Mammut Building Systems, the fastest growing manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs) in the GCC and the largest in the UAE, aims to expand its export market with its presence at the Big 5 show in Dubai this month.

"The Big 5 show attracts many decision-makers from the GCC, Africa, the Indian sub-continent, central Asia and the Far East and we want the visibility to strategise our entry in the most lucrative export markets," says general manager Muayyad Al Khudairi.

He says the company is opening new sales offices in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Doha (Qatar) and Lahore (Pakistan) as part of its drive to expand its export markets. It already has an office in Sudan.

Al Khudairi says the company received a good response to its presence at last year's Big 5 which resulted in increased sales.

He says the company recorded 100 per cent growth in 2001 and this year, it has targeted a growth rate of 50 per cent over the previous year as the level of enquiries are a lot higher and the market for industrial buildings larger.

Khudairi says Mammut will be promoting its pre-engineered steel buildings and sandwich panels at the Dubai show.

Mammut recently acquired two complete state-of-the-art continuous foaming machines for the manufacture of polyurethane injected sandwich panels.

"We plan to manufacture polyurethane-injected sandwich panels in two locations," says Khudairi. "The first location is in our factory at Sharjah's Hamriyah Free Zone. The second location is in Doha, where we are forming a local company with Qatari partners to put up the first such factory there.

"The market for polyurethane-injected sandwich panels is expanding rapidly due to global warming and an expanding industrial base in the GCC.

"Polyurethane-injected sandwich panels are the most popular and effective method of insulating industrial and commercial buildings especially PEBs.

"However, due to the slightly higher cost of sandwich panels and the longer delivery period, customers often opt for fibreglass insulation instead. But more and more owners and consultants are realising the long-term cost-effectiveness of sandwich panels and are specifying them, especially in large projects. There are only two continuous foaming manufacturers of sandwich panels in the GCC - one in Jeddah and one in Dubai."

Mammut's two new continuous foaming sandwich panel factories will have a production capacity of 300,000 sq m of sandwich panels per month and will greatly increase the existing supply of sandwich panels in the GCC market.

"The company will offer customers more options, a faster lead time and more competitive prices as the continuous foaming process is by far more efficient than the conventional slow method of producing sandwich panels," says Khudairi.

Mammut will produce two types of sandwich panels. Type '1' uses two metal skins, one on each side of the polyurethane foam core. The metal skins may be made of pre-painted aluminium or pre-painted AluZinc.

"Type '2' uses one outer metal skin and an inner skin of aluminium foil. The Type '2' sandwich panel is very competitive in price when compared to a single metal skin with fibreglass blanket insulation as the resistance to heat transfer of the polyurethane core is considerably higher than that of the fibreglass blanket.

"The potential for expanding the market size for polyurethane sandwich panels lies in expanding the market for our Type '2' sandwich panel," says Khudairi.

"We believe that half of the customers who currently specify fibreglass blanket insulation will switch to sandwich panels once our two plants are in operation because the price differential is minimal when compared to the long-term stability of the polyurethane core, the aesthetic appearance of sandwich panels, the ease and lower cost of erection of sandwich panels."

Mammut plans to begin production of sandwich panels in both Sharjah and Qatar by January next year and aims to capture 30 per cent of the sandwich panel market in the GCC by the end of 2004. The company intends to enter the Saudi market in mid-2003 and aims to open a sales office in Bahrain to cover the eastern and central provinces of Saudi Arabia.

Mammut has completed erection of about 65,000 sq m of the 250,000 sq m Abu Dhabi Pipes and Profiles Industries (Adipco) facility in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, which is expected to the largest facility of its kind in the region when completed. Another major project is the Texmas Textile City in Dubai, which has an area of 90,000 sq m.

Mammut's products will be on display at BIG 5 Show - Stand no 2G79 in Hall 2.