UAE cables maker Ducab has announced its first-half results that show evidence of the improving trend in the region’s economies as sales in the second quarter of 2009 showed a 30 per cent improvement over the first three months of the year.

Total sales of Dh1.2 billion ($326 million) for the first half were an 18 per cent decline over the first half of 2008 which the company said was in line with lower activity in the real estate sector and the impact on sales value of the sharply lower copper prices. Copper, a key raw material for cable, reached a peak price of over $8,000 per tonne in 2008 before falling to under $3,000 in early 2009. Prices have since recovered to $5-6,000 per tonne.
Andrew Shaw, managing director, Ducab, said: “The first quarter of the year was characterised by uncertainty and this adversely affected our sales, but we are very pleased to see the improvement in demand in the second quarter as construction projects have restarted and some stability has returned to the market. We expect this gradual improvement to continue in the second half as the economic situation improves and we begin to see higher sales in some of our new export territories in the Mena region”.
Ducab, equally owned by the governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has been working on streamlining operations and improving efficiencies across the business since late 2008 with projects across all three manufacturing sites aimed at improving yields and reducing costs. For example production of low voltage cables and building wire has been consolidated into state-of-the-art facilities in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, to improve competitiveness and releasing space for expansion in the other factories.

Investments continue
Looking ahead to 2010, Ducab continues to invest in new capabilities and capacity. The company’s Special Cables Unit for oil and gas cables is nearing completion in Jebel Ali whilst the construction of the new high voltage factory (Ducab-HV, jointly owned by Dubai Water and Electricity Authority and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority), also in Jebel Ali, has commenced. The company also recently announced an expansion into Qatar.
Today, Ducab factories can produce over 110,000 metal tonnes equivalent of high, medium and low voltage cables. The product range covers high voltage cables up to 132 kV, Ducab Powerplus medium voltage cables, low voltage power cables, control and auxiliary cables, flexible and building wiring cables and lead-sheathed cables.
The range includes Ducab-Smokemaster, low smoke and fume cables, and Ducab-FR (fire resistance cables), Ducab Connect cable components and accessories, as well as copper rods that Ducab manufactures in its own copper rod plant. In June 2009 Ducab was voted as a UAE “Superbrand” for branding excellence.
Ducab’s tailor-made, advanced cable solutions have laid the foundation for projects ranging from world-renowned hotels, island communities, hospitals, airports, oil refineries and government utilities. Some of the landmark projects powered by Ducab include the Burj Dubai, Palm Jumeriah, Gasco Ruwais, Delhi Metro, Dubai Metro, Lulu Island Bahrain and Ras Laffan Qatar amongst many others.
Meanwhile, the company has arranged to send two of its top UAE national vocational educational employees to Australia for international training and experience for a month.
The two employees, Mohammed Al Zaabi and Obaid Ali Tamimi, joined Ducab in 2008 as operators. As graduates of the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT) and Vocational Education Development Centre (VEDC), Mohammed and Obaid were hand-picked by Ducab’s National Development Programme (NDP) team in collaboration with the college of Tafe based on their recent achievements at Ducab.
“I am very proud of Mohammed and Obaid. It is always great to see UAE nationals strive to have such outstanding performance and create a glamorous path for their future at a young age, it is an honour for Ducab to have such talented people and an opportunity for Ducab to support the future of tomorrow.” said Ahmad bin Hassan Al Shaikh, chairman of Ducab
Mohammed and Obaid will spend the next month gaining valuable international experience working at Hoffman Engineering in Perth, Australia, where they will be able to increase their skills and gain valuable insight into how industrial manufacturing companies operate overseas.
Ducab’s National Development Programme was initiated in 2008 and currently has 60 UAE nationals enrolled in it. This programme, which includes training sessions, tasks and challenging goals, is described as a platform to further the career paths of Ducab’s UAE Emirati employees and as a guide to their future.