São Paulo – The ceramic tiles made by Brazilian company Cláudio Vogel should soon be used in a condominium with ten houses in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The commercial director at the company, Cláudio Vogel Filho, closed the deal during Saudi Build, in the building sector, promoted up to yesterday (7th), in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. "For initial negotiations, the order was excellent," said the director, who had been in contact with the Saudi businessman for one month.
Cláudio Vogel was one of the seven Brazilian companies that participated in the Brazilian pavilion at the event in Saudi Arabia, which began on Sunday (4th). The fair was very positive, in Vogel’s point of view. Apart from this order, the director should also export the tiles made by the company, which is headquartered in Rio Grande do Sul, to another two Saudi distributors. "I believe that business should flow from now on," he said, adding that he already sells to 27 countries, among them the Emirates and Qatar.
"The building sector in the Middle East is always growing. There are great business opportunities here, but Brazil is not yet known as a supplier of building material," added the director. According to him, Saudi Build served to show the Arab market that Brazil is also an option in this sector, which is dominated by North American, European and Chinese companies.
Another participant that considered the fair positive was Erik Seguinot, sales director at Sudati, a producer of plywood, headquartered in Paraná. "Few people, but with quality," was his comment with regard to the number of visitors. The director said that he should return to Brazil with at least three deals in development. The contacts were not just with companies in Saudi, but also in Sudan and Yemen.
According to the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, Brazilian companies made around 300 contacts at the fair. "In my experience with fairs in Saudi Arabia, this one surprised me positively. There was an expressive number of buyers and qualified visitors," he said.
Other companies that are going to leave the Arab country with closed deals are trading company DXB and WK Comercial, as has already been informed by ANBA. Cerâmica Cejatel, which does not yet export to the Arab market, did not close deals at the fair, but made promising contacts, according to representatives of the Export Department at the company, Marcos Sipriano.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber stand received Arab businessmen interested in learning about Brazilian machinery and equipment for the building sector. According to the Market Development analyst at the organisation, Venâncio Goulart, the stand received over 30 businessmen who asked for information about the Brazilian market.
*Translated by Mark Ament
