Isaura Daniel, special envoy*
isaura.daniel@anba.com.br
Dubai – Brazilian companies are setting up business deals at the Big 5 Show, a trade fair for the construction sector that will continue until Thursday (29th) in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A total of 20 manufacturers of construction material are exhibiting in the Brazilian premises at the fair. One of the exhibitors, Guidoni, which sells granites, should close a deal during the event for the export of 3,500 cubic metres of the product. The information was supplied by the foreign trade director at the company, Fabio Barbosa Figueira. According to him, the sale was already set up, but the final talk with the buyer, from Dubai, will take place at the trade show.
Guidoni produces 6,000 cubic metres of granite blocks, 48,000 square metres of plates of two to three centimetres, and 6,000 square metres of slabs per month. The company has been exporting to the Gulf for three years now. According to Figueira, large volume deals are made sporadically with the region. The Brazilian participation is organised by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Another exhibitor, WK Trading, which is in the fair to offer woods, received yesterday a quotation request for 20 containers of the product from a buyer based in Dubai, according to the company director, Igor Erhard Kaufeld. Braseco, which is offering glass for construction at the fair, made 11 contacts that should result in future deals, according to the director Damaris Eugênia Ávila da Costa. "Since the beginning of the fair, we have received people who were truly interested in doing business, many architects, interior designers," says Damaris.
Braseco and WK Trading are sharing a stand. They started to do business together, as their products are complementary, when they went on a mission to North Africa, this year, organised by Apex-Brasil and the Arab Brazilian Chamber. Damaris says that the people she has received were mostly from outside Dubai, but from within the Arab world, from countries such as Sudan and Qatar.
Another exhibitor at the fair in Dubai, Mosarte is showcasing its special facings at the Big 5 Show. The products are used as details on walls of ceilings. The company, according to the export manager, Thaisa Sedrez, has received many building contractors at the stand, but is really interested in finding representatives and distributors in the Gulf. The company already exports to the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, in the region.
The project manager at Apex-Brasil, Ricardo Santana, made a positive assessment of the Brazilian participation at the fair so far. "The stand is receiving many more visits than it did last year," he says. According to Santana, in addition to a greater number of buyers, the Brazilian premises are also receiving higher quality visits. In other words, they are really business-focused. Interested parties are not only from Dubai, according to him, but also from other regions, such as Jordan. The Arab country buys construction material to send to Iraq.
The Brazilian participation also counts on support from the Brazilian Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers (Anfacer) and the Brazilian Association for Dimension Stones Industry (Abirochas).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
