Ahmed Mansoor Al A’ali Co. Expands Business Relationship with Nukote to Encompass Coating Facility in Bahrain AMA invests over US$1.5 million in Nukote ‘supply and apply’ facility to target ‘liquid distribution’ projects in the water, oil, petrochemical and construction industries Manama, Bahrain – January 17th 2007: Ahmed Mansoor Al A’Ali Co. (AMA), one of Bahrain’s largest contracting companies, today announced its intention to provide a ‘supply and apply’ advanced pipe coating facility in Bahrain. The facility will utilize Nukote Coating Systems International’s coating technologies & expertise and will remain wholly owned by AMA. “Our new facility with Nukote is strategic and comes at a very opportune time for both companies,” said Hassan Abdul Aziz Al-A’Ali, the Group’s Chief Executive. “Together, we plan to address a major gap in the market which will prove cost effective for our customers. We have worked with Nukote for the past two years and look forward to a more expanded business relationship.” The facility will target ‘liquid distribution’ projects in the water, oil, petrochemical and construction industries and applications such as pipelines, concrete basins, soil coating for lakes and steel coating for a variety of different utilizations. Set to become fully operational by month end, it will have a monthly capacity of 2,000 tones or an annual capacity of half a million square meters. “Our new facility will create an unmatched strategic advantage for us in the region,” said Ajit Chitre, General Manager of the Structural and Mechanical Division at Ahmed Mansoor Al A’ali Co. (AMA). “We have always believed in our vision for excellence, our business strategy, our people and partners. We welcome Nukote as a strategic business partner.” Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) buyers - be they specialized distributors, contractors or project owners - will save on shipping and logistics costs by an average of 20 percent. Currently, the sheets of metal or pipes are purchased either in the region or abroad, sent to Japan or other parts of Asia for coating, and finally shipped to the GCC for use. “This shipping & logistics process may take months to complete and cost millions. By setting up this state-of-the-art facility in Bahrain we can supply our GCC customers with ready coated product at a rapid turnaround rate,” said Michael Osborne, President and CEO of Nukote Coating Systems International. “Joining forces with a pioneering company such as AMA has opened new horizons for business. We anticipate that this new partnership will be beneficial to the local and GCC economy.” Long established in contracting, manufacturing, trading and real estate, the AMA Group serves both the public and private sectors at the highest standards and is widely recognized as a partner of choice. The AMA Group employs over 4,000 people in Bahrain and works with many prestigious partners. Nukote Coating Systems International manufactures and distributes high-performance coatings utilizing the latest technology in molecular plastics to provide a wide range of products from pre-insulated piping systems to waterproofing membranes to coating applications for ultra hot and ultra corrosive applications. These products are widely used in petrochemical pipelines, water distribution, infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing and construction throughout the Middle East and the world. -ENDS- About Nukote Coating: Nukote Coating Systems (NCS) is a manufacturing and distribution company for advance polymer coatings, polymer specific application equipment and related products. We are based in China having been in operation here since June of 1994. Currently there are 42 NCS locations covering all of Northern, Central and SE Asia, including The Middle East. NCS central headquarters are located in Shanghai, China with manufacturing and central distribution facilities in China, United Arab Emirates and the United States. NCS owns or is a joint venture in production pipe coating facilities located in China and Indonesia with new facilities underway in United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India and Iran. NCS has can carry out contract work using our own application teams or via our affiliated qualified product application teams in 22 countries. The company is privately held and reached annual business volumes for fiscal 2003 of $65,000,000 USD. The company’s principals are based in Shanghai, one with the responsibility for Domestic China operations and the other responsible for all other International operations. Our common customers include Conoco Phillips, Chevron, BP-ARCO, SINOPEC, Pertamina, ONG, Boeing, Microsoft, Longview Fiber, Weyerhaeuser, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, IBM, and so on. Nukote products are currently manufactured by NCS in China and the United States of America. The coating system formulations are proprietary as are Nukote piping systems equipment technology. Nukote coating products are used in industrial, marine, oil and gas, manufacturing and commercial construction projects in a wide application range. Nukote pipe coating technologies were developed initially for Atlantic Richfield and British Petroleum (for use on the Alaska North Slope Oil Fields), working jointly with VECO Alaska, who was the primary general contractor for the Alaska Pipeline. These superior coating systems are now used in land based and sub-sea pipeline projects throughout the world. Nukote products are extremely durable, advanced polymers that are normally spray applied (using patented lathe equipment for pre-coating and mobile field fitted trucks for field applications), are tack free in 6-7-seconds and reach full physicals within 24 hours. Many Nukote products can be applied in low pressure equipment, standard airless sprayers and using hand application.
