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Danube Plans Expansion Early Next Year

DUBAI - Danube Building Materials, a leading building materials supplier, has planned to start the new year with some big expansion in the region, its Chairman Rizwan Sajan has said.

“The UAE is a big market in the region for the consumption of construction material, but we are also planning to target some other Gulf countries in the first quarter of 2009,” Sajan told the Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview.

Danube expects slowdown in next year’s sales due to the current financial crisis. “We expect 50 per cent growth in sales for the next year, but for the last two years Danube has been witnessing 70 per cent growth,” said Sajan.

He said there is crisis of confidence rather than liquidity and this is the time to focus on policies. Fundamentals of the UAE are strong and only thing is question of confidence, he added.

When asked about the secret of his business success he said, “We sell products on competitive rates and the secret behind our sale is we buy from the right people and market.”

Danube secured around Dh100 million in deals in this year’s Big 5 Exhibition where the company introduced its new line of luxury bath products including the outdoor Massage Bath Tub and Massage Water Bed. Danube’s Massage Water Bed, which has a capacity of 390 litres, has been designed to support any body, weight and create a relaxing effect, easing tense nerves and eliminating fatigue.

The company recently announced its plan to invest Dh50 million towards aluminium and glass manufacturing by 2009. The move is in line with the extensive growth witnessed in the aluminium market, with recent studies predicting that aluminium production in the UAE will cross 2.5 million metric tonnes by 2010. In addition, the investment aims to capitalise on the steadily rising price of aluminium, which rose by 23 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 in Dubai compared to the same period last year.

As a distributor of leading international brands for aluminium composite panels, aluminium profiles and aluminium sheets, Danube currently plays a vital role in the trading of these products, carrying world-renowned names such as Alubond, Balesco, Arabian Extrusions, Emirates Extrusions, Jindal and Al Jabbar Extrusions.

Danube provides over 12,000 products under one roof, which include wood, steel, sanitary, aluminium, flooring, ceilings, hardware and many more. Danube brings products from China, India, Russia, Bahrain, Oman and other countries.

· abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com