Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Danube targets to touch USD 1 billion in revenues by 2015
Danube targets to touch USD 1 billion in revenues by 2015
Company expects to grow by 25 per cent this year
January 24, 2011
Buoyant on its growth prospects, Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries, has set a target of attaining USD 1 billion (AED 3.67 billion) revenue by the year 2015. The company saw an impressive 25 per cent rise in revenues in 2010 in spite of the global economic crisis and projects a similar growth in 2011, that will take its revenues to AED 1.6 billion. Danube has also invested AED 50 million in a new manufacturing facility; spread over 1.3 million square feet, in Dubai TechnoPark, which would be functional this year.
In addition to securing significant growth, the company has also undertaken major expansion initiatives, which has expanded its market reach further across the region, as well as to India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Danube expanded its retail footprint in 2010 and opened Danube BUILDMART showrooms in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain and Mumbai. Each of these showrooms entailed an investment between AED 10 million and AED 50 million. The company plans to continue with its expansion through 2012, during which it targets to open 15 branches.
“The year 2010 was a very positive year for us and we are proud to say that we managed impressive growth and expanded at the same time. We added 10,000 new products to our portfolio for BUILDMART to meet housing needs, and now our total product portfolio is 25,000. Further, there were fresh initiatives and major investments, well thought over strategies and effective implementation, along with our foremost target to deliver the best to our customers, which together helped us stay strong even in tough market conditions. We are expecting positive growth results to continue in 2011 as well,” said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials.
Danube cited a recent ‘UAE Construction Industry Outlook to 2012’ report by industry intelligence provider RNCOS, which says that the UAE construction industry is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 per cent from 2010 to 2013.
“The bullish projections directed towards the UAE construction sector has drawn our focus further into broadening our presence in the domestic market, as we believe that excellent opportunities for growth are in sight for investors, developers and other players in the construction arena,” Sajan pointed out.
Danube not only saw strong performance in terms of its financials, its achievements were well recognized within and outside the industry circles. Danube was conferred with three prestigious awards including the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award and also received the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme (DQAP) award. The company’s Chairman, Mr. Rizwan Sajan, was also named ‘Businessman of the year’ at Ahlan! Masala Awards 2010.
“Our achievements were recognized and personally I am humbled to have received the award by Ahlan! Masala. These achievements are the result of combined efforts of all our partners, employees and associates and we are grateful to them for their contribution. We are committed to not only our own growth but also to continue to make a positive contribution to the construction industry as a whole,” concluded Sajan.
About Danube Building Materials FZCO
Established in 1993, Danube Building Materials FZCO provides more than 15,000 products in stock and in-house value added services in all of its 14 showrooms across the UAE. The company operates from its head offices – a 285,000 square foot facility in Jafza north and a 365,000 square feet base in Jafza south, which houses its logistics centre, kiln drying facility, factory and warehouses. From a small trading firm, Danube has grown into one of the largest building materials company in the region, with 18 branches worldwide - 13 in the UAE, 2 in Oman, 1 each in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India, in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada. Danube has a team of 1000 people working from strategic locations in across the Emirates, including Jebel Ali, Deira and Abu Dhabi. The company has been and is currently involved in major projects across the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, including Emirates Hills, the Burj Al Arab, Shangri-La Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Motor City, Burj Dubai, Dubai Airport Terminal 3, Yas Island, Reem Island, Saadiyat Island, and Al Raha Beach Hotel, among others.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
RTA launches Phase II of Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes
RTA launches Phase II of Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes
Al Tayer: 77 per cent of respondents opt for scheme expansion to include other roads in Dubai
Road & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has announced the launch of Phase II of the Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes Scheme, which includes parts of Naif Road extending one kilometer and Al Ittihad Road extending one kilometer as well, to be carried out in the first half of 2011. He added that the launch of Phase II of the Scheme comes in response to the huge success seen by the initial phase. Surveys and studies conducted by the RTA covering more than 1,000 users and drivers of public buses and taxis showed that 77 per cent of them responded that they wished to have the project expanded to include other streets in Dubai. 75 per cent of respondents confirmed that the scheme would help shorten the journey time and 86 per cent of bus drivers expressed their satisfaction with the scheme stressing that it would help slash the journey time and boost public transport rider-ship.
Al Tayer added that RTA had surveyed a number of roads prior to the implementation of Phase II of the Bus & Taxi Dedicated Lanes Scheme that included a host of parameters, namely the traffic congestion, engineering capabilities of adding bus lanes, entry and exit points, parking spaces and their influence on activities in the area, bus routes and the analysis of feasibility study of public bus lanes together with their impact on traffic safety. He pointed out that the study concluded that qualified for this purpose were Naif Road in a sector extending one km from Al Musalla Road to Al Khaleej Road, and Al Ittihad Road in a sector of one km in the direction from Sharjah to Dubai starting from the entrance of Dubai Emirate and extends through Al Nahda intersection.
He added: “The bus and taxi dedicated lane will be integrated into Naif Road by eliminating the longitudinal parking spaces at the right side while maintaining the parking spaces at the left side. The removed parking spaces will be replaced by RTA’s multi-storey parking facility accommodating nearly 394 vehicles, where the current occupancy rate is not more than 70%. There are also parking spaces of car rental companies in the adjoining area. As for Al Ittihad Road, action will be taken to remove the existing concrete barriers placed in the direction from Sharjah to Al Nahda intersection, separating the main road from the service road, and blocking the traffic from Sharjah to Al Mamzar area. Here, traffic will be exclusively allowed for buses only”.
The Chairman of the Board and Executive Director indicated that Phase II would contribute to increasing the number of bus commuters in the two areas. There are nine public bus routes passing through Naif Road with a total of 36 buses in operation during peak hours. Running through Al Ittihad Road are seven public transport bus routes with a total number of 22 buses in operation during peak hours. The implementation of Phase II will contribute to enhancing the traffic safety on both roads. The study indicated that the bus dedicated lane on Naif Road would have positive bearing on the commercial movement in the area. As regard Al Ittihad Road, the study showed that the addition of the lane would reflect positively on the traffic safety and boost the operational efficiency of buses.
It is worth-mentioning that last May 2010 RTA implemented the initial phase of the Dedicated Bus & Taxi Lanes Scheme with a total length of about 5.6 km covering several areas including Al Mankhool Road (about 1400 meters from Al Satwa R/A up to Sheikh Rashid Road), Al Khaleej Road (about 3660 meters from Khalid bin Al Waleed Road Intersection up to Al Musalla Road opposite to Hyatt Regency Hotel), Khalid bin Al Waleed Road (about 220 meter from Al Mina Road Intersection up to Street 16), and Al Ghubaiba Road (about 320 meters from Al Mina Intersection up to Street 12). The selection of these areas was made following a comprehensive study that took into consideration the population density and the service of congested areas in Dubai Emirate.
The concept of the Scheme is based on dedicating a lane for the use of buses and taxis to ensure the timely arrival of buses to the bus stops. The dedicated lane is a successful global practice that helps motivate the inhabitants use public transport instead of private vehicles. The concept, which is being implemented in several American & European cities, aims at shortening the journey time, and accordingly lure community members to use public transport means.
Captions
- Mattar Al Tayer
- Layaout of the Dedicated Bus & Taxi Lanes – Phase II
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Empower to help peers in the region to boost district cooling industry that is growing between 15 and 20% annually
Empower to help peers in the region to boost district cooling industry that is growing between 15 and 20% annually
Bin Shafar: Absence of long term planning is biggest obstacle facing District Cooling companies
Dubai, UAE, 16th January, 2011: Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower), the largest district cooling service provider in the region, has invited District cooling companies in the Middle East to benefit from EMPOWER’s experience and boost the growth of the industry that is growing between 15 and 20 per cent annually.
Shafar said district cooling industry is faced with obstacles like absence of long term planning. He said though the Middle East is still in its fancy in the field district cooling, the potential is great as government support is huge and new real estate projects launched over the past five years demand this technology. Further, this technology is environment friendly and is in line with government approach to energy conservation.
Bin Shafar pointed out that other challenges include lack of high caliber technical and marketing personnel which has led to financial issues. In contrast, Empower achieved a revenue growth of 27 percent in 2010, driven by a prudent policy.
Bin Shafar added: “We are ready to support our peers in the industry so that we can enhance the global competiveness of the Gulf district cooling industry. We have developed expertise that has been acquired through seven years of hand work and international collaboration.”
Bin Shafar said that the Gulf has a competitive edge compared to many other countries in the world because of its recent adoption of district cooling and this technology is seamlessly integrated into the real estate projects, unlike places in Northern America and Europe where the technology has to be added to existing projects.
Bin Shafar added that the UAE was the first in the Middle East to realize the importance of district cooling as an alternative to conventional cooling, compared to very modest usage in other parts of the Middle East.
Empower succeeded in adopting world class district cooling infrastructure to implement this system that is considered an ideal economic and environmental solution for residential and commercial units, offices and hotels. The operational savings in a residential unit compared to conventional AC technologies is remarkable.
Empower tops the list of companies providing district cooling service in the region. The company, owned by DEWA and TECOM, had adopted a clear strategy to preserve environment through aggressively disseminating this technology and conducting campaigns to highlight its strategic value in the short and long run to the people and the society in general.
About Empower:
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) is a joint venture between Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone (TECOM) Investments and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), created to provide energy-efficient district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments. Empower plans to diversify into other energy efficiency and conservation services. Empower's district cooling systems (DCS) provide effective and efficient means of air conditioning. Water is cooled in central plants and distributed through a network of piping systems to individual customer buildings. DCS achieves economies of scale by using centralised plants instead of individual cooling units in each building. The centralised system results in reduced capital and operating costs, thus reducing air-conditioning set-up and energy costs per building. Empower is set to become one of the largest district cooling companies in the region.
Dubai's residential property prices likely to recover by 2011, says Memon Investments
Dubai's residential property prices likely to recover by 2011, says Memon Investments
Developer boasts of portfolio consisting of high profile residential development projects valued at AED 1.34 billion
January 18, 2011
Residential property prices in Dubai are likely to recover by 2011 as the market witnesses continued signs of improved lending from 2009, which is expected to continue until 2011, said Memon Investments, a leading Dubai-based property developer and part of the multibillion dollar international business conglomerate, the Shaikhani Group. Strategically positioned to leverage the healthy market prices the developer is expediting construction on its on-going residential projects, which consist of luxury buildings collectively valued at AED 1.34 billion.
Encouraged by the relatively lower costs of construction, the developer further reiterated its commitment to ensure timely delivery of its residential developments, which include the ‘Frankfurt Sports Tower’ and the ‘Champions Tower’ series. As more banks inject liquidity into the mortgage market, Memon Investments is confident that its projects, which are located in several high profile master developments, is providing buyers a wide range of investment options that offers excellent return potential. Furthermore, the developer also revealed that it has already awarded important contracts to some of the UAE’s top contractors and MEP companies.
“Amidst reports that a major percentage of 100 off-plan projects in Dubai that were put on hold are now picking up where they left off, we are focusing on gaining an advantageous position as consumer confidence continues to grow,” said Ahmed Shaikhani, Managing Director, Memon Investments. “We continue to capitalise on our strategic partnerships and the uniqueness of our projects, as we work towards the prompt completion of our existing projects and the realisation of our vision of growth as one of the major developers in the region.”
Memon Investments announced that it has passed more than the halfway mark on the construction of two of its prime residential developments in ‘Dubai Sports City’ - ‘Champions Tower II’ (CT II) and ‘Champions Tower III’ (CT III). The developer also revealed the completion of the superstructure of the AED 80 million ‘Cambridge Business Centre’ (CBC) in Dubai Silicon Oasis, keeping the construction on track to be completed by the second quarter of 2011.
“Our strategy revolves around managing the construction progress in our projects and building-up the confidence of customers and investors. This, in addition to the improving situation in the UAE residential property market, is giving us the necessary leverage to maintain our robust operations in United Arab Emirates, and we are confident that the entire market is poised for an upward trend in the near future,” concluded Shaikhani.
About Memon Investments LLC
Founded as the property development arm of the international business conglomerate, the Memon Group of Companies, Memon Investments has grown to become a leading property player in the region offering a diversified portfolio of premium property projects. Guided by a tradition of excellence, the developer’s intense focus lies within its core competencies, specifically acquisition, design and development, consultancy, leasing and management of properties. Leveraging the Memon Group’s extensive real estate development experience, Memon Investments’ UAE portfolio comprises of prestigious residential projects including ‘Champions Towers I, II, III, and IV’ and ‘Frankfurt Sports Tower I’ in Dubai Sports City; ‘Gardenia I & II’ in Jumeirah Village, and its inaugural commercial venture - ‘Cambridge Business Centre’ in Dubai Silicon Oasis, all of which embody the developer’s trademark top-notch quality and uniqueness.
Having delivered over 30,000 units across the globe with a presence in 90 countries spread across Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe, the Memon Group of Companies is presently commemorating its 30th year of delivering unique offerings and services to its global customers. In addition to its extensive expertise in the real estate market, the Group has also built a strong reputation for its unwavering support for various causes such as poverty alleviation, environmental conservation and academic development. As a socially-aware international corporation, the Group has devoted 19 years in support of the Rabia Charitable Foundation and the Rabia Relief Fund.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Steel prices worldwide drop by 10 percent; demand from GCC to grow six fold in five years
TeknoTube Arabia 2011 concludes
Oil & gas industry and expanding pipeline network will boost pipe industry in GCC
Steel prices worldwide drop by 10 percent; demand from GCC to grow six fold in five years
Dubai, UAE, 13th January, 2011: TeknoTube Arabia 2011, the 10th International Trade Fair for Industrial Machinery, Metalworking, Machine Tools, Dies/Molds, Tubes, and Pipes, concluded with the message that the booming oil and gas industry in the Gulf and the expanding pipeline network will boost the pipes industry six fold in the coming five years.
Tekno Tube Arabia 2011, which was running concurrently with ArabPlast, together attracted 18,680 visitors.
Jun Yao, General Manager, BAOSTEEL, a first time exhibitor in TeknoTube Arabia 2011, said: “Middle East constitutes 5 percent of our total business. We do $100 million dollars sales annually. In five years, the steel industry in the UAE will grow 10 percent in the GCC and North Africa region. As the largest steel provider in China and the third largest in the world, we are upbeat on this region. Price of steel, which were at its peak in 2007, have dropped by 10 percent.”
“There is a huge market for the Chinese companies in the Middle East and we are looking for agents from the region. Tubes and pipes manufactures from China are coming here to test the market,” Yao added.
Chinese participation in TeknoTube Arabia 2011 rose by 40 percent. Chinese tube and pipe industry competes with global industry by its sheer volume of production. Chinese companies can produce volumes faster than any other suppliers in the world.
The show urged Gulf's tubes, pipes and steel industries to enhance cooperation in logistic operations, human resources development and boost the competitive abilities of their products in the international markets. It will help increase cooperation between GCC nations and help them avoid harmful competition, especially during times of crisis and low demand.
Satish Khanna, General Manager, Al Fajer Information and Services said: “The Gulf has the largest concentration of energy resources in the world, with oil producing countries in the region estimated to have spent approximately AED 182.5 billion (US$50 billion) to increase their current oil production or on new explorations by the year-end.”
The event, which attracted a cross-section of the world's tube and pipe customers, is the oldest show in the region and is regarded as the ideal gateway to the extremely important Gulf and Middle East markets.
Khanna added: “The global demand for energy, infrastructure development, construction projects, water and air conditioning supply and automobiles - the key sectors that drive the tube and pipe industry -- will continue to grow in the coming years.”
Steel was a big highlight of the show. Khanna added: “GCC steel imports are in the region of US$ 8 billion, growing at 20 % CAGR. Steel represents a large portion of the GCC base metals industry, and there will be a production shortfall of 14 million tonnes by 2015. The value of the projects planned and underway in Iraq soared by 12.3 percent to reach US$ 182.6 billion.”
As far as tubes industry is concerned, the Middle East has witnessed the launch of a series of new tubes plants one of which is the Empower Logstor Insulated Pipes Systems (ELIPS), the UAE's largest pre-insulated pipe manufacturing facility, in Jebel Ali.
“As for the tube industry, the GCC and Middle East are proving to be increasingly attractive markets for international tube manufacturers. Some of the growth sectors include oil and gas technology, petrochemicals, water and electricity supply, drainage as well as construction. Huge investments by the government as well as private sector have been made in this sector and more are in the pipeline,” added Khanna.
Khanna added: “The present demand from Gulf countries for pipes and tubes is met through imports; however leading manufacturers of steel pipes and tubes in the Gulf region are looking at reducing the imports as much as possible through the production of millions of tonnes of tubes and pipes every year.”
The Middle East steel market today stands at a crossroads. For the first time in the region’s industrial history, steel production is coming close to meeting domestic demand. With the ramping up of production capacities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman, steel users and fabricators now don’t have to rely much on imports from other regions.
With regard to seamless piping that is used heavily by the Oil and Gas sectors, JESCO in Saudi Arabia plans to produce 200,000 tons in 2011, with a total rolling and finishing capacity of 400,000 tons. Another major regional player, Al Jazeera Steel Products of Oman, has recently upped production capacity to 300,000 tons per year. With OCTG pipe consumption in the Middle East projected to be 1.2 million tons in 2011, these companies will play a significant role.
Other players like Zamil Industries and Al Mansoori from Saudi Arabia have 170,000 tons of finishing capacity. ArcelorMittal’s new seamless mill project in Saudi, with a capacity of 600,000 tons, is projected to start sometime in late 2012. However, imports from China, India and Europe will still account for more than 30 per cent of tube and pipe consumption in the GCC region in 2011.
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