São Paulo – A small company in the city of Maringá, in Paraná, Masterink, a maker of machinery for the remanufacturing of cartridges and inputs for printers, has its products exported to 35 countries. Among them are the Arab Egypt, Oman, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
The company was established in 1999, but it was in 2010 that exports started to grow, when the company decided to organise its foreign sales, which were previously in the hands of a forwarder, and hire a person exclusively to take care of international business.
“We market on the Internet. We advertise on [Chinese] site Alibaba.com, which is widely known in the Arab countries, and also on local Google sites,” said Marcelle Lima, Foreign Trade manager, regarding the company’s winning foreign partners.
The company produces machinery to remanufacture ink jet and also laser printer cartridges, which use powdered toner to print. “Generally, those who buy the product aim to start a business,” explained Lima. There is much demand as it is cheaper to remanufacture cartridges than to buy new ones,” she said.
Among the main markets for the company are countries like Peru, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia. Regarding the Arab countries, she explains that the client in the Emirates operates as a representative and that the client in Egypt also wants to distribute the company’s machinery.
Of the 200 machines produced a month, 10% are exported, but the intention is to increase the number. “This year we hope to increase the volume exported last year by 20% to 30%,” revealed the manager.
Lima also stated that Masterink aims to seek other markets in the Middle East. “We want to enter Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar,” she said. According to her, the company’s greatest interest is to find clients who also want to be representatives.
“Thus, the end user will have someone to report to. The machinery needs maintenance and clients need training,” she explained. The machinery manuals, she says, are written in English, but the equipment is shipped with instruction stickers translated into Arabic.
Contact
Masterink
Tel.: (+55 44) 3261-5050
E-mail: marcelle@masterink.com.br
Site: www.masterink.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
