A fabrication leader in the UAE and beyond

Harry Moraes, chairman of Fabtech International, talks to The Energy Year about how the company has achieved its place at the forefront of the fabrication industry and opportunities it sees arising in the next two years. Fabtech is a fabrication and heavy engineering equipment supplier based in Dubai.

What has driven Fabtech to the forefront of the fabrication industry?
The strength of Fabtech lies in its diversification. We do not overexpose our operations, limiting them to 30% for one sector. We are one of the largest fabrication companies in the Middle East and are world leaders in fabrication for an array of structures. We always take on challenging engineering projects that will push us towards better manufacturing processes.
We are leaders in offshore buoy fabrication. We are one of the companies in the region that fabricates rigs and cranes. We also do ship loaders and unloaders, of which we have produced more than 400, and many other engineering projects.
When I first took over the company’s leadership, we were making up to USD 7 million per year. We are now nearing a USD 500-million valuation and have a turnover much greater than that. We employ around 5,000 people and complete projects for clients around the world.

What current projects and clients are you focused on?
We have facilities across the UAE that give us the capability to handle various projects. We just finished a 16,500-tonne-per-hour capacity ship loader for our client Baffinland in Canada. This was a 6,000-tonne project that we built in eight months, which compares to a typical required time of at least 18 months by international standards.
The UAE represents around 20% of our projects. We have worked for ADNOC, building modules, pipelines, reactors, vessels, pumping stations and compressor stations. We also do work for Borouge, which includes reactors and vessel fabrication. We have also been working on turbines for the past two years to supply to the offshore wind sector. Finally, we have just signed a contract for refinery facilities in Papua New Guinea.
Our facilities are modern, with large capacities and very diversified equipment. We have the world’s largest plate rolling machine, and the largest press of 8,000 tonnes in the Middle East.

Tell us about the technologies deployed across your fabrication facilities.
We have equipment and technologies of great capacity used throughout the fabrication processes. We have more than 470 qualified welding procedures, and we are able to handle magnetised steel, along with other metals. We make sure to have a broad range of capabilities to take on various projects of different scopes and complexities.
Lately we have also adopted automation technologies in our facilities for greater optimisation, and we are promoting digitalisation and the use of software for certain procedures.

What opportunities do you see arising in the next couple of years?
We are booked for the next three years, and expectations for the upcoming year are high. We are seeing new projects coming along for which we intend to expand our capacity here in the UAE, adding 80,000-100,000 square metres of space in Abu Dhabi for our operations.
We are also seeking to expand in Saudi Arabia, but first we have to look at different parameters and make sure it makes sense economically.
Lastly, together with a client we are discussing potential penetration into the hydrogen space. We are also looking into supplying offshore wind projects.

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