Spokane-based manufacturer Pyrotek Inc. is building a manufacturing facility in the Middle East to help meet growing consumer demand for aluminum in that region.

The new manufacturing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will have 66,000 square feet of floor space to start. Pyrotek anticipates it will move into the facility at the beginning of next year. The company also expects it will double the size of the facility eventually.

“This plant will grow our footprint in the heart of one of the major global aluminum smelting regions,” says Nigel Clear, Pyrotek’s general manager in a press release.

Pyrotek, which is headquartered at 705 W. First in downtown Spokane, manufactures materials designed to withstand high heat. 

The company and operating partner Emirates Global Aluminum constitute the largest aluminum producer in the Persian Gulf. Emirates Global Aluminum operates aluminum smelters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as a refinery in Abu Dhabi, Clear says.

The new plant will focus on manufacturing several major product lines.

“It’s all about improving our service and shortening delivery times; prototyping and then supplying custom products fast,” he says.

Pyrotek has had a presence in Dubai for 20 years and currently operates a sales and warehousing facility in a region of the country that serves the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt, and other parts of north Africa. In addition to providing products to companies in the aluminum industry, the existing facility supplies products for glass, noise control, and steel industry customers.

Pyrotek has a presence in more than 80 locations worldwide in 35 countries. The company has more than 3,000 employees, including 500-plus engineers, working for it globally.

David Cole, Pyrotek’s Spokane-based spokesman, says as a private company, Pyrotek doesn’t disclose financial information.

In August 2006, Pyrotek told the Journal the company reached nearly $250 million in annual revenue, which was then a company record. Pyrotek at the time had operations in 61 locations in 30 countries.

The company was founded in 1956 by Dale C. Swanson, a former Kaiser Aluminum employee, and Lowell Brown, a metallurgy expert.