São Paulo – Stationery items manufacturing company Acrimet wants to conquer the Arab world. Its products, which are already exported to more than 30 countries, were presented to the Arabs in Dubai, in late March, at the Stationery and Back to School Middle East Fair. “We noticed that there is a space for our products and that we have no competitors,” said the export manager at Acrimet, Jaime Nascimento Junior.
This was the first time that the company took part in an event in the Arab world, backed up by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex). Apart from Acrimet, other Brazilian companies that are part of export project Graphia – the result of a partnership between the Brazilian Association of the Graphic Arts Industry (Abigraf) and the Apex – attended the fair in Dubai.
According to Nascimento, Acrimet showcased several products at the event, such as desk accessories, litter baskets for recycling, drawer organizers, and pencil holders, among other kits. They are all manufactured using propylene, a very resistant type of plastic. “Our products resemble acrylic,” said the manager. He also stated that the success of the items in the foreign market is mostly due to quality and design.
In Dubai, the Brazilian company made contact with distributors and storeowners from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Qatar, Syria and other countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. A total of 49 promising contacts were made. “At the moment, I am forwarding price lists and requested information,” said Nascimento. According to him, the presence of Chinese products in the Middle East is quite strong, but there is a shortage of quality and diversification in the school and office material segments. “I believe that importers must have other options of markets to buy from, and Brazil may be one of these options,” he added.
The choice for participating in a fair in Dubai, according to the manager, came about because the emirate is a gateway to the Middle East and, furthermore, many distributors based in the Emirates operate in neighbouring countries, which opens up new opportunities. According to Nascimento, the fair was positive and the next steps depend on negotiations. “It is a market worth investing in,” said the manager, who intends to have a representative in the region.
In the market for over 35 years, and for 5 in the foreign market, headquartered in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, in the Greater Metropolitan area of São Paulo, Acrimet exports 12% of its output. In spite of the crisis, the company expects to expand the share of foreign sales to between 15% and 18% this year. “I have sensed that from March onwards, the market has been on the rise. We are optimistic,” added Nascimento. The company does not disclose its production volume, but claims to hold an 80% share of the Brazilian stationery industry. Its main markets abroad are Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela. “We are already present in large retail chains, stationery stores and supermarkets in Latin America," said the manager.
According to him, the Arab and North American markets are targets for the company this year. "We are located 30 minutes away from Santos Port (the largest in the country) and have a distribution centre turned to exports," said Nascimento.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Mark Ament
