Re-affirming its commitment to the European market, Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (“DUBAL”) participated in the 7th Metef International Aluminium Exhibition (“Metef 2008”), by way of a large stand at the Garda Exhibition Centre, Brescia, Italy, from 9 to 12 April this year. The company, which currently ranks as the world’s seventh largest producer of premium quality aluminium and Dubai’s industrial flagship, used the event to showcase its services and products while promoting the brand in the region; to liaise with its more than 40 existing customers in Europe; and to network with other exhibitors and potential customers.
Sultan Al Sabri (Senior Marketing Manager: Europe and US) reports that the event was hugely successful. “Many of our customers visited the DUBAL stand, giving us the opportunity to continue building on our long-standing relationships and to discuss business-related matters,” he says. “The substantial size of the stand, complemented by eye-catching design and graphics, created the desired impression that DUBAL not only has a strong presence in Europe, but will also continue to be a major player in the market for years to come. These factors attracted the interest of potential new customers, who took advantage of the opportunity to meet the senior DUBAL officials who manned the stand and obtain information about our company first-hand.”
As Al Sabri points out, Europe is a strategically important market for DUBAL. “In terms of geographic, economic and freight perspectives, DUBAL is ideally located to serve Europe,” he says. “We have been active there since 1996 and have enjoyed excellent growth ever since, despite the 6 per cent duty payable. In 2007, DUBAl shipped 214,000 metric tonnes of high quality finished products to Europe, equating to 23% of our total sales for the year.”
It’s a market that holds significant growth potential for the future and, as such, forms an important part of DUBAL’s corporate growth strategy, which includes significant growth in annual production volumes, primarily through lateral investment and involvement in green-field smelter developments in the MENA region. “Three such projects have already been announced through DUBAL’s joint venture relationship with Mubadala Development, known as EMAL International, in Abu Dhabi, Algeria and Saudi Arabia respectively,” adds Al Sabri. “We see Europe as a critical market for the sale of the additional metal yield from these smelters, especially as there are many logistics and cost benefits to end-users on the continent. In addition to our well established infrastructure of port facilities and warehouses that enables Just-In-Time deliveries direct to end-users across Europe; we are also establishing a dedicated DUBAL office in Europe during the course of this year.”
DUBAL’s participation at Metef 2008 also provided a platform to promote Dubai and the UAE. The city’s superb business infrastructure and growing economy were showcased while successfully demonstrating Dubai’s innovative and cosmopolitan flair.
About Dubai Aluminium Company – DUBAL
DUBAL is ranked as the seventh largest producer of primary aluminium in the world, and currently ranks as the largest single-site aluminium smelter complex in the Western world and is also one of the largest non-oil contributors to the economy of Dubai. Built on a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE, DUBAL’s major facilities comprise an 950,000 mtpa primary aluminium smelter, a 2,100 megawatt power station, a large carbon plant, three casthouses, a 30-million-gallon-per-day water desalination plant, laboratories, port and storage facilities. Employment is provided to more than 3,700 people.
The company has the capacity to produce approximately one million metric tonnes of high quality finished aluminium products a year, in three main forms: foundry alloy for automotive applications, extrusion billet for construction purposes and high purity aluminium for the electronics industry. A dynamic growth strategy will increase annual production volumes of hot metal to almost one million metric tonnes by the end of 2008.
DUBAL serves 280 customers in 44 countries predominantly in the Far East, Europe, the ASEAN region, the Middle East and Mediterranean region, and North America. The company holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification; and has twice won the Dubai Quality Award in the Production and Manufacturing sector (1996 and 2000). Furthermore, the company has won several international and local awards for its Safety and Environment performance.
