Mammut Building Systems FZE, the largest manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs) in the UAE, has started manufacturing type I polyurethane-injected sandwich panels and expects to launch production of type II panels later this year. The production of these panels is expected to provide a considerable boost to the company's regional sales.

The company has already made tremendous headway in its sales campaign in Dubai, with recent successes including a letter of intent for the supply and erection of all PEBs in the new Textile City project in Warsan - the largest PEB project awarded in Dubai in the past five years. The emirate of Dubai accounts for approximately 25 per cent of Mammut's sales and the company expects more sustained growth in both the PEB market and its sales in the emirate.

Mammut's type I sandwich panel is made up of an exterior profiled panel roll formed from 0.5-mm-thick AluZinc coated steel or from 0.7-mm-thick aluminium, a polyurethane core which is available in any desired thickness and a flat and attractive aluminium foil as the interior skin.

"It is an economical panel and a great substitute for fibreglass insulation," says general manager Muayyad Khudairi. "The exterior profiled panel is available in either mill finish or is pre-painted at the mill. Mammut stocks large qualities of pre-painted AluZinc and pre-painted aluminium coils in four popular colours - off-white (RAL 9002), Emirates Green (BS12B21), Bristol Blue and Army Beige. With a density of 35 to 40 kg/cu m, polyurethane foam is rigid and is considered as the most superior insulating material in the building industry."

Mammut plans to begin manufacturing its type II sandwich panel in August with the purchase of new equipment that will set it on the road to becoming the largest polyurethane-injected sandwich panel producer in the Middle East, according to Khudairi. The type II sandwich panel utilises the same exterior profiled panel as the type I panel, though the interior skin will be made of 0.5-mm-thick pre-painted AluZinc coated steel or 0.5/0.7 mm thick pre-painted aluminium. The inner skin will be available in a bright white colour (RAL 9010) in several designs such as a flat panel design, a microwave design, a multi-groove design and a concealed fastener design.

Khudairi says: "Our equipment uses the continuous foaming process for producing sandwich panels. In the entire GCC, there is only one similarly capable machine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Our design production capacity is 300,000 sq m of sandwich panels per month but logistical constraints can drop this figure to 100,000 sq m per month.

"This is still greater than the combined sandwich panel production capacity of all manufacturers of PEBs in the GCC; and since the price of sandwich panels constitutes approximately 50 per cent of the price of a PEB which is clad with sandwich panels, one can see the competitive advantage that Mammut will gain in the PEB market and how easily Mammut will achieve its goal of capturing 60 per cent of the PEB market in the UAE by the end of this year and of becoming the largest manufacturer of PEBs in the GCC before the end of 2005," he adds.

Mammut's sales efforts in the UAE are directed by Fawaz Haraki, regional sales manager UAE. Haraki had held the position of senior structural engineer at Kirby Kuwait for 10 years and area sales manager for Dubai and the Northern Emirates for Zamil Steel of Saudi Arabia.

Based in Sharjah's Hamriyah's Free Zone, Mammut has recently undergone a tremendous plant expansion, increasing its covered roof area from 11,000 sq m to 30,000 sq m and its plant site from 70,000 sq m to 120,000 sq m.

In line with its plans to become the largest PEB manufacturer in the GCC before the end of 2005, Mammut has embarked on a massive sales expansion.

Mammut currently maintains a sales presence in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Qatar (Doha), Sudan (Khartoum), Bangladesh (Dhaka and Chittagong), Pakistan (Lahore) and Sri Lanka (Colombo) - each office manned by at least four staff; a sales manager, a sales support engineer, an erection specialist and a marketing person.

Khudairi continues: "There is a thirst for good before and after-sales service. We are committed to providing the best service in our industry as we know that, apart from product quality, it is the fastest path to market leadership; and in the area of product quality, Mammut has upgraded all its building components to a level that equals or exceeds the quality of the building components of the leading PEB manufacturer in the GCC."

"Mammut plans to enter the Saudi PEB market, which is twice as large as the UAE market, during the second half of 2003. The PEB market in the UAE is the most competitive market in the GCC. Prices in the Saudi market are considerably higher which will make our market penetration in Saudi Arabia a lot easier," he adds.

Mammut invites enquiries for pre-engineered steel buildings to sales@mammut.ae and promises a fast and detailed response to requests for quotations, including proposal drawings with every quote.