For any manufacturer, creating the absolute best products is one thing, but ensuring they reach and are supported by your customers is another. That’s why working with a good distributor can make all the difference.
By Khaled Elkayar Sales & Marketing Manager MENA, and Johan Salwén, Technical Marketing Specialist, Alleima.
For more than 20 years, Alleima, is working closely with its distributor in Egypt, integrated engineering solutions provider G.I.S, supplying seamless tubes. The relationship represents a positive combination of the strengths offered by the technical and commercial teams at Alleima, forged with the local market knowledge and expertise of G.I.S. to deliver material solutions to support Egyptian customers. Read more about G.I.S .
The combination of expertise in the development and manufacturing of advanced stainless steels and special alloys of Alleima and the deep understanding of on-the-ground market trends from G.I.S. is an excellent template for a successful partnership between an original equipment manufacturer and a local distributor.
Forged from the past. Engineered for the future
Today, Alleima is a world-leading manufacturer ofseamless stainless steel and high nickel alloys in hydraulic and instrumentation (H&I) tubes, heat exchanger (HE tubes, and high-temperature (HT) tubing, and advances processes and applications in the most demanding industries through unique materials that are lightweight, durable, corrosion-resistant, and able to withstand extremely high temperatures and pressures.
Steel melting and hollows for tubes are manufactured in Sweden. The tubes are manufactured from Swedish hollows at production units in the Czech Republic, Germany, the USA, China, and India with total control of the supply chain from research and development (R&D) to melt to the final product. Its fully integrated mill in Sandviken, Sweden, is the main industrial site and location for R&D.
Alleima works closely with its distributor network, providing products, and technical support, and exhibiting at local industry events.
G.I.S – trusted to supply
The demand for H&I, and high-temperature tubing is growing in Egypt. This is particularly true of the demand for heat exchangers for the refinery and fertilizer markets, particularly for very harsh environments such as those in seawater coolers. Salinity levels in the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea are high, so advanced special material grades developed for harsh environments can make a real difference in efficiencies – and profits - for operators.
High nickel alloys have traditionally been a solution for seawater applications, but they can be expensive and, in some cases, an overcompensation for the specific conditions experienced.
The need for a cost-competitive material solution from Egyptian operators to combat harsh heat exchanger conditions means Alleima is experiencing significant and growing interest in its recently developed super-austenitic stainless steel alloy Sanicro® 35 (UNS N08935). Containing just 35% nickel, the grade is easy to work with and bridges many material property gaps between stainless steel and more costly nickel base alloys.
Sanicro® 35 has excellent corrosion resistance for service in marine environment such as seawater and other highly corrosive environments. It is characterized by excellent resistance to pitting, crevice corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking (SCC), high resistance to general corrosion in acid and caustic environments and to erosion-corrosion, a very high mechanical strength, and good weldability using nickel alloy consumables. The grade won the materials design category in the Materials Performance Corrosion Innovation of the Year Awards in 2021 hosted by AMPP.
Backed by local support from G.I.S, and offering both commercial and technical expertise, Alleima is able to understand what customers in Egypt need before they realize it themselves. For example, after assessing and examining corrosion failures in a heat exchanger, Alleima was able to confidently recommend Sanicro® 35 rather than a more expensive higher grade nickel base alloy as the most appropriate material solution for tubing.
A progressive partnership
The close and mutually beneficial relationship between Alleima and G.I.S. is a good example of how an international manufacturer and a local distributor – both leaders in their markets - can work together to generate the best of both worlds for end customers. As the focus on local fabrication grows in Egypt and the wider Middle East, it represents an effective model of how a global provider can overcome geographic challenges to access a key market.