DUBAL entrenches its commitment to end-users in European market

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.