AMIANTIT'S INDIAN JOINT VENTURE WINS $22.5 MILLION IN CONTRACTS TO SUPPLY PIPE SYSTEMS FOR OIL REFINERIES, POWER PROJECTS AND TANK SYSTEMS FOR PETROLEUM RETAIL OUTLETS

Amiantit Fiberglass Industries India Limited (AFIIL), Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company's joint venture in partnership with the Salgaocar Group of Goa, is forecasting a record 90 percent growth in sales for 2006 as the manufacturing facility steps up production to meet increasing demand from India's booming industrial sector.

Orders from two of India's leading oil refineries highlight the type of large scale contracts that AFIIL is winning. In March AFIIL completed a $6.5 million contract from Essar Oil for engineering, supply and installation supervision of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) pipes for the sea water intake and outfall system at its upcoming refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat. The project started in October 2005 and was finished to the client's satisfaction in only six months.

This has been followed by an even bigger order from India’s largest petrochemicals and refining company which specified Amiantit GRP pipes for its sea water intake and outfall system. Worth $10 million, this supply contract is for a complete system and is to be completed within 2006. In addition, an order valued at $2.5 million for GRP intake pipes for a 2x125 MW power plant has been received.

AFIIL has also been awarded new orders worth $3.5 million for the supply of double wall GRP underground fuel storage tanks to Dutch oil major, Shell India which has a license to open 2,000 retail outlets. Amiantit's Goa plant is the world's biggest manufacturer of GRP single and double wall storage tanks and previously received the world's largest ever order for 5,000 single wall GRP underground fuel storage tanks from Reliance, the first 2000 of which were delivered in the record time of only nine months.

Apart from private sector orders, AFIIL also serves the public sector and has supplied GRP pipe systems for many drinking water projects in rural India, and also for a drinking water project in Turkmenistan.

Commissioned in December 2003, the AFIIL plant is making a significant contribution to local employment and the economic development of Goa, which is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population. Classified as a biodiversity hotspot rich in tropical flora and fauna, and renowned for its beaches and world heritage architecture, Goa has become one of the most popular holiday destinations for hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists.

Amiantit environment friendly GRP pipes and single and double wall storage tanks are corrosion-resistant, strong, lightweight and easy to install, have a long service life, and offer a cost-efficient solution for municipal, industrial, agricultural and marine applications.