ABB wins five-year full service contract at Oman aluminum rolling mill

 ABB, the power and automation technology group, has won a contract worth $9m from Oman Aluminum Rolling Company (OARC) to develop, implement and execute all maintenance activities at the company's rolling mill plant in Sohar, Oman.

The Greenfield aluminum rolling mill will produce flat sheet and aluminum foil with a capacity of 140,000 tonnes per annum and will primarily serve the Middle East and European markets. The projected completion of the build is expected during Q3 2013 when the plant will commence operations.

"We look forward to having ABB as a partner in the new rolling facility. ABB brings experience in Oman and gives us access to their global rolling capabilities of ABB for maintenance services and rolling technology support," says Buddy Stemple, chief executive officer of Oman Aluminium Rolling Company.

"The agreement is performance based and provides both parties incentives for success. OARC and ABB will work jointly to provide a high rate of Omanization within the maintenance work force which is in the interest of our shareholders," Stemple adds. 

Through the ABB Full Service concept, ABB will manage, develop, implement and execute the entire maintenance function at the plant including all mechanical and electrical maintenance regimes, shutdown management, planning and scheduling and reliability maintenance.

"This Full Service agreement highlights ABB's capabilities in providing comprehensive service solutions for the industrial sector. Our innovative approach to performance-based services ensures improved production and equipment performance, energy efficiency and reliability for the entire facility," says Saeed Fahim, country manager for ABB in Oman.

ABB's renowned global expertise, tools and methodologies will assist OARC in allowing a successful start up of the plant. Additional customer benefits include ABB's local presence in Oman and their capabilities in transferring knowledge to Omani nationals employed by ABB to support the government program to develop the competencies of the local work force. The agreement involves directly 55 ABB employees and will start in June 2012 and continue for a minimum 5 year period.

ABB has around 100 similar Full Service agreements with customers in the paper, mining, chemicals and oil and gas industries globally. ABB best practices applied to maintenance operations improves the performance and reliability of production assets, increasing plant efficiency and optimizing total maintenance cost.