Mammut Building Systems, considered to be the largest manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs) in the UAE, is undertaking a major expansion of its factory in Sharjah's Hamriyah Free Zone.

On completion, Mammut will have 30,000 sq m of covered roof area and will be geared to produce 3,500 tonnes of PEBs and 100,000 sq m of sandwich panels per month.

Mammut's PEB sales skyrocketed in the UAE last year and the company now maintains two fully-staffed sales offices in the country, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Muayyad Khudairi, general manager of Mammut Building Systems, says: "Our aim is to acquire and sustain a 60 per cent market share of the PEB market in the UAE by the end of this year. We are now achieving this goal every third month and we are confident of achieving it on a monthly basis by the year-end.

"Mammut's entry into the polyurethane-injected sandwich panels market will greatly enhance our competitiveness in the PEB market, as these panels constitute approximately 50 per cent of the price of a PEB. It will also greatly assist in achieving our sales target."

The PEB market in the UAE is estimated to be 3,000 tonnes per month.

Mammut will enter the sandwich panel market in two phases: in the first, it will produce sandwich panels comprising a metal skin (aluminium or AluZinc-coated steel) on the outside and aluminium foil on the inside while phase two will produce these panels with metal skins on both sides.

"Our current expansion will enable us to dedicate 50 per cent of our factory production to the UAE market and the remaining to the export market," he continues. "Although we are fast approaching our targeted UAE market share, it will be two more years before we realise our target of producing 1,750 tonnes of PEBs per month for the export market. This gives us plenty of free capacity during the next two years to handle unusually large projects in the UAE."

Mammut has already set up a sales presence in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sudan and will soon establish a presence in Qatar. Mammut is determined to acquire a major market share in these countries by 2005.

The company stocks large quantities of sheeting coils in both mill-finish aluminium/ bare AluZinc-coated steel and in pre-painted aluminium/AluZinc coated steel and offers four popular colours - off-white (RAL 9002), Emirates Green (BS 12 B21), Bristol Blue and Army Beige.

Over the past 18 months, Mammut signed two of the largest PEB contracts awarded in the UAE. These are the Abu Dhabi Metal Pipes and Profiles Company (Adipco) project in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi and the Textile City project in Warsan, Dubai.

"In its quest to become the leading manufacturer of PEBs in the lower GCC, Mammut has recruited some of the best and most experienced managers in the PEB industry in this region and has upgraded its buildings components to where they are of a higher quality than all its competitors," Khudairi says.

Mammut is the only PEB manufacturer that offers to sell its PEBs on the basis of supply and erection in the UAE, he adds.

Mammut invites inquiries for PEBs be emailed to sales@mammut.ae and promises a fast and detailed response to requests for quotations including proposal drawings with every quote.