Pierluigi Davico, area sales manager and operation manager for Valvitalia says specialist valves for tougher environments give the company a sales edge in an ever-more challenging Middle Eastern market
“Valvitalia has a strong consolidate presence in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. The middle east market is extremely important for Valvitalia, in the last few years 40% of the total revenue has been generated by our bookings in gulf countries.
Davico says the market impacted was definitely impacted by project slow downs in the Middle East, but a robust portfolio has helped the company ride out a difficult period in relative comfort. “The Valvitalia Group is manufacturer of: all types of on off valves, control valves, safety valves, all type of actuators, filters & heat exchangers, oil and gas metering stations & regulations, piping fittings and flanges. Basically we were not affected by the project slow downs, because Valvitalia Group is the sole manufacturer worldwide for such a huge range of products and this uniqueness can grant us continuity of business and the fact that we supply to nearly 80 countries worldwide compensated any areas affected by project delays.”
Regional valves sales 2006-2008 were astronomical for most major providers, and whilst that gloss may not yet be back on the horizon, the latter stages of 2010 will year’s figures look to be back on the rise. “The second part of this year will very promising for us because a lot of large projects have been awarded and we are working in order to obtain the maximum share,” explains Davico.
Even in a tough 2009, and heading through into 2011 Davico says the Middle East is a key foothold for the Valvitalia Group.”This region continues to be our principal market and we foresee 2010 to be yet another success for Valvitalia Group. The local market is very selective and at the moment, there are no important local producers in the gulf able to supply the special products required by the local clients, although we can see the early signs of increased competition from Far East producers.”
As the Middle East looks to developing its increasingly sour oil and gas, higher spec equipment will separate market leaders from those which cannot meet the challenge, says Davico. “Valvitalia is leader in the manufacturing of special valves for sour service, high pressure and H2S rich content, we already have dedicated products and a team of people focused on this special market.”
The company has recently worked on several major regional projects, including the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline Project (ADCOP) where Valvitalia supplied all the mainline 48” ball valves, actuators, station ball and gate valves, station surge relief skids and all the fittings and flanges – across the entire project.
“We also worked on the Dolphin Taweelah – Fujairah Project supplying on off valves, control valves, actuators and fittings; we worked on the GCS Expansion Project with Dubai Supply Authority supplying all the on off valves; on the Halul Project with Qatar Petroleum supplying all the gate valves, on the Karan and Manifa projects with Saudi Aramco providing on shore and subsea valves and actuators,” beams Davico.
In terms of technical developments, the most significant change to the valves sold to the oil and gas business have been driven by material selection. “We realised that the most significant changes are applicable to the selection of the materials; since the majority of the projects require components able to perform in sour service and aggressive conditions, every year we are supplying more valves manufactured using exotic materials and cladding technologies,” he concludes.
Iraq Orders Beckon
Valvitalia is already working extensively on Iraqi projects and is introduced with all the main customers. “We are currently executing many orders for SCOP for valves and fittings and over the next two years we believe Iraqi projects will account on over 20% of the total Valvitalia business share in the Middle East,” says Davico.
