Gulf Extrusions, the UAE-based market leader in aluminium extrusion for the GCC region, has announced that its combined exports have grown by over 10 per cent in 2003. Amongst the non-GCC countries, Germany and the United Kingdom have emerged as major importers for Gulf Extrusions' profiles.
"Several factors have assisted our success in capturing the European markets," said Robert Holtkamp, Director of Sales and Marketing, Gulf Extrusions, who has more than 10 years of experience working with European aluminium extrusion companies. "We, at Gulf Extrusions, went through an intensive process for quantifying demand in various European markets as well as identifying aluminium extrusion profiles suitable to each market. Our confidence in the quality of profiles was validated by the ease with which we were able to meet and even surpass the stringent quality standards governing imports into Europe."
The combined demand for imports from European markets is over 200,000 tons.
The exports to the European market currently constitute approximately 30 per cent of Gulf Extrusions' total exports. The demand has originated mainly from traders supplying to the various segments of the European markets,
most specially the construction industry.
"While the demand in Europe for aluminium extrusions profiles is continuously increasing, various factors have made it very expensive for the products to be sourced from within the European Union. The strengthening Euro was
already contributing to high costs of European made profiles; the situation was worsened by the levy of new duties on raw materials. This has further increased the cost of European produce," explained Holtkamp. "Numerous
buyers turned to Dubai, which is already visible in the international press for its vibrant construction sector, to identify new sources of aluminium profiles. The world class quality of our profiles ensured our success." (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
