For more than 90 years, Jotun has been a pioneer in developing new products which have changed how the world perceives paint. Today, Jotun provides coating solutions across seven regions with 9,872 employees all over the world. In Egypt, Jotun has started its business more than 30 years ago and has been migrating from being a product-based to solution-based business in response to the market demands and industrial dynamics. As more consumers and businesses are turning to paints and coatings to help solve different challenges, Jotun has expanded its service offering in every segment to meet specific end user needs. Egypt Oil & Gas had the opportunity to talk to three of Jotun’s pioneers about the world-class solutions they offer to the oil and gas sector.

Exceeding Customer Expectations

According to Yasser Emam, Protective and Marine Sales Manager at Jotun, being distinctive is one way to exceed customers’ expectations, and to achieve this, a research and development (R&D) team work diligently across multiple areas to introduce high-quality products to customers. Jotun’s Jotachar JF750 and 1709, which are Passive Fire Products, for instance, are designed specifically to work in a timely manner and a hassle-free environment.

“[Since] Jotun is a multinational supplier with local production facilities, we supply huge volumes of paints in a short delivery time. Jotun has a dedicated sales team for the different customers’ group in Egypt including oil and gas, energy and infrastructure business units,” Emam said. With a team that has the most qualified and certified coating advisors in the market, all projects are monitored and moderated thoroughly and instantaneously.

Quality Comes First for the Market Leaders

Quality is the most important element when it comes to distinction, and according to Emam, it is often divided into two main parts. First, production quality, which is fully controlled by a qualified team who assure the right implementation of production procedure and then test it in the quality control lab. Second, testing the application quality, which is handled by coating advisors that support customers and assure a proper surface preparation and application.

Pioneering Service Provider for the Oil and Gas Industry

Jotun has over 40 years of experience in the hydrocarbon processing industry with millions of square meters protected and hundreds of projects completed around the world. Mohamd Refaei, HPI and Offshore Concept Manager, said that Jotun aims to constantly develop its coating services to meet every hydrocarbon processing industry’s challenge. This is done through longer protection, faster operations, and diversified specialist areas (ex: corrosion under insulation, tank-linings, passive fire protection PFP, etc.).

“Our offshore experience has provided us with valuable knowledge, as well as insights into our customer needs and requirements, Refaei said. As a result, Jotun has developed solutions to satisfy customer needs and provide perceived customer values In the Hydrocarbon Processing Industry (HPI), Jotun innovated the Thermosafe range, a collection of five coating solutions optimized for temperature that ranges between –196o C and 1,000o C. Thermosafe products provide protection from cryogenic spills and thermal exposure to corrosion under insulation, serving as a “Single Source Solution” for project owners, purchasers, contractors and engineers seeking to solve critical challenges and add value to their business, Refaei further said. Jotun’s maintenance solutions for offshore units place the company in a strong position to best meet the customers’ needs for extended maintenance intervals, optimizing cost and time efficiency.

According to Refaei, Jotun’s PFP breakthrough, Jotachar, has been lunched four years ago in Egypt, introducing the first Meshfree passive fire protection epoxy intumescent in the market. “This innovation guarantees maintenance time saving, cost saving and faster completion of projects for customers; which enables Jotun to cope with the fast growing oil and gas projects in Egypt,” Refaei noted.

Expanding in the Egyptian Market with the Region’s Biggest Factory

Korkut Kulbul, Jotun’s General Manager, said that the aim of the company is to serve other markets in Africa in addition to expanding in the Egyptian market. Jotun is following up with the steady growth in Egypt according to Kulbul, and to cope with this potential, Jotun has decided to invest in a new factory, which will be the biggest in the Middle East, India and North Africa (MEIA) region, with a production capacity of more than 80 million liters in one shift, in addition to the old factory in Ismailia with a capacity of about more than 40 million liters.

According to Kulbul, 450 employees are working in Jotun Egypt as of today and the current factory is serving more than 32 years. “[as] the company is focusing more on developing the competency of their people whom are their most valuable asset,” he said. These promising investments are set to improve the company’s health, safety, and environment (HSE) conditions in the country to a very high level.