£9M ORDER BOOST FOR NEW GROUP

The group - which comprises Begemann, Girdlestone and Weir Pumps - has been awarded contracts worth around £9 million to supply pumping equipment to the Bandar Imam petrochemical special economic zone, Iran.

The main order was placed by a local contractor, on behalf of Bouali Sina Petrochemical Co, and comprises a package of API process pumps to be made by Begemann at its plant at Venlo in The Netherlands. It is Begemann's largest ever order from the Middle East.

Weir Process Group will provide 148 end suction pumps, 38 in-between bearing pumps, 14 vertical long-shaft pumps, 14 small piston diaphragm pumps and spare parts. They are due to be delivered by November 2001.

The second contract has been placed by Fajr Petrochemical Co and comprises 34 split-casing cooling water pumps, ranging from 525kw to 1385kw, to be made by Weir Pumps at its Glasgow plant. The units, mainly motor driven but including three steam turbine driven, are to be installed within the economic zone, where they will be operated by five petrochemical end-users: Fajr, Shahid Tondguyan, Fan Avaran, Khouzestan and Amir Kabir. Equipment delivery will be phased until September 2001.

News of the record order comes shortly after Weir Process Group was chosen to provide pumping equipment to Kerr McGhee's Leadon floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the North Sea.

Jan Schutte, who won the Begemann order, said it was an excellent start for the new group and would provide good shop-load for the Venlo facility. "We believe we have an unrivalled product portfolio. We are actively bidding other work and are confident about achieving further major sales successes."

Derek Hill, Weir Pumps industrial director, said: "The key to securing the business was a combination of our extensive product range and ability to meet a very demanding delivery schedule."