Company History

The Middle East Tube Company Ltd. (“Metco”) was first established in 1951 in the Acre South Industrial Zone, not far from Kiryat Plada.

Two years earlier, in 1949, a company called “Joint  Pipe Industries Ltd" was founded and registered in Tzrifin.

In an agreement signed between the shareholders of the two companies, all “Joint Pipe Industries Ltd“ shares were transferred to Metco and the company began operating as a single entity out of both sites in Acre and Tzrifin.

At the time, Koor Industries Ltd. was the sole controlling shareholder with 100% of the shares.

In 1993 the company was issued on the stock exchange and since that time 27% of shares are in public hands.

Throughout this period, the Company Headquarters were located at the Acre site.

With the unification of the two companies into a single framework, production underwent rationalization.

The Acre site was re-designated for production of ½” - 6” pipes, primarily for sale and use in domestic plumbing and structural pipes, and anti-corrosion protection was applied by hot-dip galvanization in zinc.

The Tzrifin site was designated for production of 8” - 80” pipes while protection against corrosion was carried out by applying external coatings and internal linings.

The Israeli government's policy for liberalization of imports and the signing of the free trade agreement with Turkey in 1995 led to a sharp drop in prices of the small-diameter pipes manufactured in Acre and profitability of the plant drastically reduced.

During this time, the Tzrifin Plant was engaged in production and marketing of water infrastructure pipes, primarily for use in sewage. Company sales increased and profitability rose as well. In 1998 the company headquarters were moved to the Zrifin site.

In March 2000, Gaon Agro Industries Ltd. and the 3I Group acquired control of the company.

Upon closing the deal, the new controlling shareholders immediately decided to suspend all pipe manufacturing activities at the Acre plant and focus on galvanization alone. A section of the site area was put up for sale and all galvanization activities were moved to the Real Estate Operations site.

In addition, the new management decided to initiate a recovery plan at the Tsrifin Site, with emphasis on instigating cuts in manpower, inventories, and general streamlining of activities at the site.

In 2002 Metco acquired 21% of shares of "Via Maris Desalination Ltd." (the desalination company) which is currently involved in construction of a large scale seawater desalination plant in Palmahim beach. The plant is planned to operate an annual capacity of 30 million cubic meters using the BOO (Build Own Operate) approach.

In 2004 the company signed an agreement with “Plassim Technical Plastic Works For Agr. Ind. & Bldg. Ltd” (originally from Kibbutz Merhavia) (hereinafter “Plassim”) for the purchase of 20% share holdings in three subsidiaries of Plassim, companies that are involved in production of polyethylene, PVC and polypropylene pipes for water, sewage, power, communications, and for corresponding pipe fittings and plumbing products.

In 2004, the 3I Group sold their share holdings, primarily to "Gaon Agro Industries Ltd." and to Sammy Shimon (via Ainsbury) which holds 20% of company shares.

The company has increased investment in new equipment and mechanization to enable strategic expansion in fields of activity. Correspondingly, the Company made significant investments in improving the human infrastructure of its employees and continues to strive for technological and business excellence.

As a result of such activity, the company was certified for production of natural gas transmission pipelines by the highest levels of international accreditation agencies. In addition, the Company has entered into several agreements to supply parts of the transmission infrastructure required by Israel's overland natural gas pipeline and is in future expected to supply pipes for the distribution lines of this new infrastructure.

as of 2020 the company relocated to Neot Hovav industrail eco park to a state of the art production facility spread across  over 180 Acres.

METCO NEOT has an annual manufacturing capacity of 26,000 tons of steel and revenues more than $ 85 million, it employs over 90 employees and is increasingly relying on innovations from the fields of digitalisation and Industry 4.0 in production logistics.
Our goal is to provide leadership that will transform Israel’s and the entire region’s steel pipe industry.
METCO NEOT combines technical expertise, practical experience and added value to service our customers by providing high quality, high-performance products.