Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo – Believing in the Arab Market potential, Rimo S.A., a furniture maker in the city of Linhares, Espírito Santo, has developed a line of products specially turned to consumers in the region, exhibited at the Index fair in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between October 7 and 11.
"We spent a full year studying a product that would be well accepted by the Middle Eastern market, with the characteristics demanded by the Arab world", said Luiz Gustavo Corread, Rimo export manager, present at the fair.
The product in question is single and double bedroom furniture, with bedside tables, wardrobes and dressing tables.
According to Corread, the company representative in the Emirates helped in developing the products. The line was named Oman, in homage to the sultanate in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula.
One of the changes from the Brazilian to the Arab market has been the bed size, 40 centimeters wider, and a few centimeters longer. "In the Arab world, bedrooms are larger than those in Brazil, a country in which apartments are becoming smaller and smaller", said Corread.
The wardrobes have also had internal space increased. "The furniture has been designed according to market needs. Clearance inside wardrobes is larger than in Brazilian wardrobes, due to the fact that Arab clothes are different from Brazilian clothes", stated the executive.
Dressing tables, alone, are another item that differs from Brazilian furniture, being specially designed for Arab consumers. According to Corread, dressing tables are no longer used in Brazil, whereas they are greatly used in Arab countries.
Despite the modifications, Corread states that the furniture has not lost its "Brazilian style".
Price
According to Rogério Bellini, responsible for furniture industry projects at the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex), Rimo furniture also attracted great attention at Index for another reason: the price, which is below Chinese product prices, making the Brazilian product highly competitive.
For Corread, it is hard to compete with Chinese products, which are more elaborate and richly detailed. The way out, he says, is to present a quality product at a lower cost than Chinese models.
The executive went on to say that while a Chinese set of bedroom furniture was offered for US$ 700 at the fair, the Rimo line was offered for around 30% to 40% less.
Corread says that it is still too early to evaluate the result of fair participation in terms of deals made. He states that orders for between US$ 50,000 and US$ 60,000 were placed, but they must still be confirmed.
Export
This was the second time Rimo participated in Index. Last year the company tried to "get as close as possible" to the Arab market and hire a local representative, the same one who later provided information for the development of furniture.
"Contact with a local resident may be the greatest step in any market", explained Corread.
The executive states that the company started exporting around three years ago, and wants to finish 2003 at over US$ 1 million in export, double what was sold last year.
Corread states that the company operates on all continents, except for Oceania, and has its main customers in the United States, responsible for 40% of total export. The Arab world corresponds to around 20% of company international trade.
Corread goes on to say that Rimo exported between 8% and 9% of production last year. This year the company expects international sales to be around 15% of production. He says that the company, founded in 1989, currently has 300 employees and produces 110 cubic meters a day (the production measure used by furniture makers). In July 2002, stated the executive, production was 70 cubic meters a day.
The Arab world has become an important focus for Brazilian producers. According to Rogério Bellini, the Brazilian stand at Index showed the largest international exhibition by the Brazilian furniture industry in 2003.
Apex expectation is that the over 1,000 commercial contacts made may lead to deals totaling around US$ 4.5 million within the next 12 months.
