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Ducab Sales Slip 27pc

DUBAI — Ducab, one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality power cables in the Middle East, suffered a 27 per cent decline in its global sales last year, compared with 2008 despite a 10 per cent increase in its local market share, the company said.

The UAE-based company, jointly owned by the Governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, reported Dh2.4 billion sales for 2009 while it achieved the highest ever sales of Dh3.3 billion in 2008. The cable manufacturer now possesses a local market share of around 50 per cent and aims to gain 25 per cent of all cable manufacturing business in the GCC in the future.

Sales during 2009 were positive in countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and India. Ducab’s copper manufacturing and marketing activities were particularly successful in these GCC and Asian markets, with the company recently overtaking competition in India to become the largest provider of imported copper rods in the country.

“This last year was a very challenging period worldwide, although infrastructure projects can be counter-cyclical in a downturn as governments spend money in order to stimulate economic activity. “The Middle East as a whole remained a strong market for Ducab in 2009, and today we believe that customer service is without a doubt the most important aspect of our business,” Ducab Managing Director Andrew Shaw said.

Looking forward in 2010, Shaw said that the company is poised to benefit greatly from its recent investments in capacity expansions, especially the construction of the UAE’s first high-voltage factory in Jebel Ali (due to be operational by early 2011).

Shaw said that although 2009 was a tough year for the regional construction industry as a whole, the company managed to utilise this time to focus on customer service, commit additional resources towards operational excellence, and expand the company’s capacity in order to penetrate new international markets.

Ducab saw the completion of several ventures in 2009, including the establishment of a special cables unit dedicated to the oil, gas and petrochemical sector, an expansion of the Ducab Connect range, and widening the product portfolio of Ducab copper rods.

· abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com