São Paulo – Goiânia-based firm Neom Trade is a trading company specialized in commodities such as coffee, cacao and black pepper; mining products such as iron and manganese; building stones such as marble, granite and soapstone; as well as gold and gemstones. The company wants to expand its business in the Arab countries. It already works with Egypt and Morocco in North Africa, and Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf.
To facilitate its business between Brazil and the Arab countries, the company is a member of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and has a sales manager based in Saudi Arabia.
According to Neom Trade export consultant Alessandro Andrade, the Economic Forum Brazil & Arab Countries, an online event that took place last month, bore good connections. The company participated with an e-booth and has just sent sample building stones to a potential buyer in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It will send coffee and açaí samples as well.
“We’ll send them ornamental stone byproducts, such as a soapstone firepit, pizza oven and fondue set, as well as coffee and açaí. This will be an early export for demonstrational purposes, then, if they like it, they will send a container order,” Andrade said. According to him, the company is certifying the products according to local requirements, such as halal certification, and the ABCC has helped with the documentation.
Andrade said they also have Egyptian suppliers interested in selling olive oil, olives, and urea to Brazil. “Egypt is a large olive and urea producer. Moreover, during the forum, we met several Brazilian companies looking for partners. Companies from South and Southeast Brazil also visited the e-booth and want to export with us,” he said.
Neom Trade has an office in Brasília and, besides working with the five Arab countries mentioned, it also exports to India, Turkey, Philippines, and Guinea. The company intends to operate in every 22 Arab countries.
“We start by collecting information from the ABCC Market Intelligence’s database to discover which companies we could prospect, then our representative in the Arab countries meet them and present the products and samples, so that we can close the deal,” Andrade explained.
The consultant said the company want to expand into the Arab countries because, he says, they are very open to Brazilian products right now. “We see a very large demand for building and tourism in the Middle East, and Brazil is the country with the world’s largest capacity for new developments. We want to be a link between that region and Brazil,” he said. On the other hand, Andrade said that they could work with products such as dates and apricots that are largely consumed in Brazil.
The greatest challenge for Andrade is the time the cargos take to arrive by sea, which is the main route used by the company. According to him, a ship takes 60 to 90 days to arrive at the Arab Gulf, and it costs a great deal. “A direct shipping lane would reduce costs and travel time, which would make our products more competitive and improve our trade balance,” he pointed out.
Quick Facts
Neom Trade
https://www.neomtrade.com.br/
Export.consultant@neomtrade.com.br
+55 (62) 98192-6737
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
