OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2012. ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has commenced production of reverse osmosis membrane elements for seawater desalination at a manufacturing plant for reverse osmosis in Rabigh City in western Saudi Arabia established jointly with ACWA Holding of Saudi Arabia (hereinafter “ACWA”) and Toyobo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Toyobo”).

The completion ceremony for the Rabigh plant of Arabian Japanese Membrane Company, LLC (AJMC) was held on May 22 in the presence of the Saudi Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hossein and officials from ACWA, Toyobo, and ITOCHU.

Positioned in the growing seawater desalination markets of the Middle East, this joint venture intends to distribute reverse osmosis membrane elements for seawater desalination not only in Saudi Arabia but also in other regions of the Middle and Near East as well as in the countries of North Africa.