São Paulo – One of the world’s leading crystal manufacturing companies is looking to increase its sales in Brazil. According to the marketing and regional sales manager for the crystal fashion components division of Egypt’s Asfour Crystal, Mohamed Shaarawy, the company is looking to expand its available portfolio and export volume to luxury markets in Brazil. He should travel to São Paulo and Curitiba this week, prior to returning to Cairo. This Tuesday (19th), Shaarawy paid a visit to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce headquarters, where he convened with executives from local companies.
“We are looking for partners in Brazil because the country boasts a large, strong economy and is a great market for our products. We are surveying the market and seeking out local partners,” Shaarawy told ANBA. Initially, the company plans on selling its crystals in Brazil via distributors, but he does not rule out opening an office in the country in case sales increase.
The executive believes Asfour could ship one 20-foot container a month to Brazil. “I hope to strike deals with one of the companies we are in talks with shortly,” Shaarawy asserted. During his stay in São Paulo, he will meet with organizers of the House & Gift Fair, underway this week in São Paulo. “We want to exhibit our products as early as next year,” he said.
The company has been selling a small share of its production to a distributor in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul since 2007. Those are not the same products as the ones Shaarawy has brought to São Paulo. The items the Asfour executive is showcasing include decorative bathroom tiles, as well as crystal sheets for decorating environments such as rooms, offices, bedrooms and receptions. The average price per item is US$ 16.
“Due to our large scale production, we can afford to offer good pricing. We manage to sell high-end products in markets such as China,” he said. Asfour was founded in 1961. Current output stands at 120 tonnes of crystal items per day and roughly 80% of production is shipped to 120 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. The company’s main competitors are based in Austria and the Czech Republic. One of the reasons for the company’s good productivity is the abundance of raw material, i.e. sand, in Egypt.
Contact
Asfour Crystal
Telephone: +2 02 4226-0196, branch 6018
m.shaarawy@asfourcrystal.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
