Chairman Rizwan Sajan accepts award in recognition of company’s ‘excellence model’

October 31, 2010

H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, has awarded the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award to Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries, at a ceremony organized by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce (DCC) held today (October 31, 2010) at the Madinat Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai. The MRM Business award in the ‘Freezone for Re-Export category, which was received by Danube Chairman Rizwan Sajan and Managing Director Anis Sajan, complements the company’s ‘excellence model’ and its outstanding business performance; strategic programs, initiatives and achievements, which were the main criteria used in judging this year’s awards. Danube Building Materials is the only building materials trading company to be awarded in this year’s edition of the MRM awards.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minster of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai, the MRM Business Award was established in 2005 to recognize, showcase, and celebrate the success of organizations that have contributed to UAE economic development. Participating companies and organizations stand to gain key benefits and advantages that include; an organizational learning experience via self analysis and comparing performance against better business practice modules; an independent assessment of strengths and weaknesses; recognition of excellence in the workforce; promotion of healthy competition that can lead to an increase in production and efficiencies and an opportunity to compare their own practices and strategic initiatives with the best companies in the sector.

“We are very humbled to receive this award, which affirms our strong commitment towards the promotion and adoption of best practices and high standards in the Middle East Region,” said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube. “We are inspired by the confidence vested in us by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and will aim to return this gesture by supporting his call to promote a culture of excellence in the UAE and the rest of the region. Danube remains steadfast in its efforts to secure further growth in terms of our manufacturing capabilities and expand our retail presence in the region amidst our plans to launch 10 new Buildmart branches this year.”

The MRM Business Award recognizes best performing business organizations by focusing on three main performance indicators: output, outcome, and impact. The criteria for assessing the applications for the Award focus specifically on the factors that lead to outstanding business performance. The award aims to share and promote best business practices by indentifying the elements of success of the winners. Danube joins a list of leading organizations who have won the MRM awards including leading multinational companies and enterprises within the private sector.

Anis Sajan, Managing Director, Danube, said, “Danube is totally committed to uphold the integrity of the MRM Business Awards by constantly ensuring that we meet the requirements set by this prestigious award. The whole Danube family thanks His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the recognition. This award is equally momentous given that we were also awarded at the ‘Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme’ (DQAP) Awards. Rest assured Danube is looking forward to undertaking further initiatives to enhance our processes and the value we provide to our customers, which would hopefully merit more recognition in the future.”

Leading manufacturer underlines strength amidst economic challenges

July 04, 2010

Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries, announced that it has achieved 30 per cent overall growth in FY’09-‘10. The excellent results the leading manufacturer has recorded underlines its strength despite the challenges posed by the dwindling market as a result of the recent global financial crisis. In addition to securing significant growth, the company has also undertaken major expansion initiatives, which has expanded its market reach further across the region, as well as to India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

The most recent milestones achieved by Danube in the past fiscal year include the subsequent inauguration of two ‘Danube BUILDMART’ branches worth AED 15 million each – in Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai and in Bawadi Mall, Al Ain. Further, the company also unveiled its ‘Danube BUILDMART’ branch in Mumbai, India, located within the city’s well-known Oberoi Mall on June 25, 2010, marking its first international branch outside of the GCC.

“The growth we have seen for FY’09-’10 is a true testament to our strength and resilience, as well as our capacity to meet customer demands, which has evolved significantly due to the unique situation created by the global financial meltdown,” said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials. “This success has been the result of our foresight, strong strategies, and ultimately, the value for money we offer to our customers. In addition to launching new stores, we have also invested in expanding our production capacity, while maintaining unwavering focus on ensuring the quality of all our products.”

Being built as part of its expansion plan in the coming years, the company has invested AED 50 million in a manufacturing facility located in TechnoPark, Dubai, to boost its production volumes and meet the demand as the market approaches full recovery. Spanning 1.3 million square feet, the new facility will be completed in phases and is expected to commence operations by early 2011. As a testament to the overall success of Danube, a certificate for the ‘Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme’ (DQAP) has been awarded to the company in April this year, in recognition of its noteworthy activities and achievements.

Chairman Rizwan Sajan accepts recognition for company’s ‘excellence model’

April 07, 2010

H. H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, handed over a certificate for the ‘Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme’ (DQAP) to Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries, at a ceremony held today (April 07, 2010) at the Grand Hyatt Dubai. Danube Chairman Rizwan Sajan, and Managing Director Anis Sajan received the award in recognition of Danube’s ‘excellence model’, which covers the organisation’s activities as well as its achievements, and is the criteria by which the awardees are judged upon.

Securing the DQAP certification for the first time, Danube credits its excellent leadership, dynamism in strategy, growth in terms of people and partnerships, as well as it expanding resources for bagging the award. Within the last five years, Danube has registered exponential growth in revenues, which has exceeded AED 1 billion in 2009, an investment of AED 100 million in the expansion of the ‘Danube BUILDMART’ concept across the GCC, and the addition of 350 staff during the height of the recession.

Speaking at the sidelines of the awards ceremony, Rizwan Sajan said, “We are very proud to have been given this recognition, which further affirms our commitment towards excellence and to the region. This award is also a remarkable motivation for us to continue our efforts to secure further growth in terms of our manufacturing capabilities and expand our retail presence in the region amidst our plans to launch 10 new ‘BUILDMART’ branches this year.”

An initiative of the Department of Economic Development, the ‘Dubai Quality Award’ aims to provide organisations with a ‘roadmap’ to achieve excellence through the adoption of good practices and soundly-based approaches that are deployed systematically and are continuously measured and reviewed. The methodology and main criteria of the award are encapsulated in a model that provides organisations with a tool to benchmark performance and document existing gaps. Providing a holistic framework for organisational excellence, the award, which is based on the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), represents role model organisations in the sectors they operate in.

“We are committed to upholding the integrity of the ‘Dubai Quality Appreciation’ certification by ensuring that we satisfy all the stringent requirements set for this prestigious honour. We wish to thank the Department of Economic Development for this award, and we are looking forward to undertaking further initiatives to enhance our processes and the value we provide to our customers, which would hopefully merit more recognition in the future,” concluded Anis Sajan.

GCC steel suppliers reinforce presence in the market

March 10, 2010

The current price of steel in the UAE has seen a monthly increase from December 2009 to reach AED 2,150 per tonne in March this year - a growth pattern that is posing major prospects for the regional market in terms of its implications on the capacity of mills to operate at full capacity, according to Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries. The company further revealed that scrap prices continue to firm up, costs of raw materials steadily increase, and billet availabilty is constrained. Further price hikes are likely in the coming months, thereby prompting local steel suppliers to strongly reinforce their presence in the regional market. The steady price hike in the region, however, is not in tandem with the steep levels by which global steel prices are rising, which is a reflection that the steel market in the region is becoming indifferent to global market forces and thus continues to have a significant lag behind price surges in other parts of
the world.

The price of steel in the UAE started its recent climb from a rate of AED 1,780 per tonne in November-December 2009, to AED 1,850 in January 2010, to AED 1,950 in February, and to its present rate of AED 2,150 per tonne. Comparatively, global steel (mill) prices have gone from USD 490 (December 2009) to USD 520 (January 2010) to USD 535 (February 2010) to USD 570 (March 2010), and latest estimates reveal that a price of USD 600 is imminent. The region’s indifference to the rate of increase seen in global prices is partly due to weak demand, as a result of some major projects in the Middle East being delayed or put on hold. Furthermore, liquidity in payment remains tough, with most contractors and developers unable to commit to immediate payments for suppliers in the region.

“The local steel market required up to 400,000 tonnes of steel per month in the years prior to the recession but this has reduced to 250,000 tonnes per month on account of the international economic downturn,” said Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials. “The increasing role played by GCC-based steel suppliers, which has curbed the flow of Turkish steel into the country, is also an indicator of the increasing growth potential for the regional steel industry. We remain optimistic that steel prices in the region will increase to reach its ideal level, which is somewhere around AED 2,300 - 2,400 per tonne, and this will provide a boost to the mills, which have been affected by the recession to gain full operation capacity and thereby stabilise the market.”

At present, top UAE-based suppliers Emirates Steel Mills and Qatar Steel Corporation dominate the regional supply chain, delivering a combined 175,000 tonnes of steel (125,000 tonnes and 50,000 tonnes, respectively), to the UAE. With scrap traders holding on to existing stockpiles and a lower collection of scrap over the past few months, steel prices in the region have increased at rates of close to 12 per cent in the last month. Whilst billet availability remains another issue in the region, Danube is confident that the current steel prices are a realistic reflection of the market and bode well for the remainder of the year.

“The global market has seen steel prices drop to an all-time low of USD 390 back in 2008, while prices in the region had hit the bottom price of AED 1,750 per tonne in 2009. During these periods, the steel industry has had major difficulties coping with the closure or slowing down of mills. The increase in prices we are monitoring in the UAE and the rest of the region is suggestive of positive developments in the stability of the steel industry, and we are watching for further indicators to help us leverage this excellent progress,” concluded Sajan