Saudi Arabian And Japanese Companies To Partner On Treatment Technologies Venture

Abunayyan Holding, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Toray Industries, Inc., headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan have successfully launched Toray Membrane Middle East LLC (TMME), a joint venture in water and wastewater treatment technologies in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The new company, Toray Membrane Middle East LLC, established with projected investment over 300 million SR (80 million USD /8.2 billion JPY) with investments from Toray’s subsidiary Toray Membrane Europe AG, will manufacture and sell water treatment membranes in addition to providing technical services.

TMME plans to newly construct a world scale production factory by applying Toray’s production technology and Toray’s global quality control standards. The factory will be located in Dammam 3rd Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and will begin production of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane elements beginning in 2015. By adding Saudi Arabia (TMME) to its current operational manufacturing bases in Japan (Toray Ehime Plant), California (Toray Membrane USA) and Beijing (Toray Blue Star Membrane), Toray will have four manufacturing bases for the RO membrane elements.

As Toray continues to challenge the solution to global water issues, rising to the challenge of securing an outstanding future for Saudi Arabia, Abunayyan Holding continues to focus on how modern technology, involving innovative design and engineering, can utilize water & energy resources most economically and beneficially.

Abunayyan Holding is a group of national Strategic Business Units (SBUs) that provide power and water desalination technologies and has set strategic goals to become the leading corporation in providing scientific and strategic power and water solutions to its customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and expanding into the MENA region as well.

As Saudi corporations face the challenge and demands of globalization, the experience Abunayyan Holding has gained over the last 60 years together with its international business partners enables it to compete effectively throughout the Arab world.

With the establishment of the TMME, Toray and Abunayyan Holding aim to respond to the significant scale and rapid growing demand in the Middle East and North African markets by leveraging a powerful sales network, high quality products and superior technical service. At the same time, the companies are determined to establish a strong presence as the leading company in the water treatment membrane field in this region. TMME will form part of Toray’s expertise in global membrane sales and service.

Global water shortages, the continued need for the conservation of our water resources, and in response to essential environmental considerations, the global RO membrane market has expanded tremendously. In the Middle East and North Africa, demand from large-scale seawater desalination projects and wastewater recycling applications are expected to increase substantially in order to tackle the water shortage in this region, putting TMME ahead of the game.

About Toray Industries, Inc. (Toray)
Toray is one of the leading manufacturers in the world for advanced materials. Established in Japan in 1926 by manufacturing chemical fibers, now, Toray’s business has expanded to 23 countries and regions, and technology covers textiles, plastics, chemicals, IT-related products, carbon fiber, composite materials, water treatment and environment materials, life science products, etc. Its consolidated net sales of fiscal year 2012 were count for 19.4 billion US Dollars.

For more information, visit www.toray.com

About Toray’s Water Treatment Membrane Business
Desalination plants traditionally used evaporation to turn seawater into drinking water. Today, however, systems based on water treatment membranes are being used increasingly because of advantages that include lower energy consumption and its life cycle cost. Toray developed reverse osmosis (RO) membranes that are ideal for desalination by improving related technologies, including nanotechnology-based polymer separation membrane technology. As a result, Toray has gained a 30% share of the world market and Toray membranes have been used in major projects, including the large seawater desalination plants in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East Countries.

Toray also manufactures Nano-Filtration (NF), Ultra-Filtration (UF) and Micro-Filtration (MF) membranes, and which are applied for water and wastewater treatment plants.

For more information, visit www.toraywater.com.

About Abunayyan Holding
Abunayyan Holding is a turnkey partner who provides integrated solutions in water, power and energy applications.

Abunayyan Holding, through its 14 subsidiaries, engages in trading, manufacturing, servicing, and investing in water, oil, gas, and power markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. Rising to the challenge of securing a sustainable future for Saudi Arabia, Abunayyan Holding focuses more on how modern technology, involving innovative design and engineering, can utilise water & energy resources most economically and beneficially

For more information, visit www.abunayyanholding.com.