United Metal Supply (UMS), through its Dubai operation, has built up a reputation for timely supply of steel materials for various applications to the Gulf.
UMS, established in the principality of Liechtenstein in 1995, is involved exclusively in the trading and stocking of steel products.
The company arranges the transfer of steel from producers to end-users efficiently and cost-effectively, says managing director Bharat Bhatia.
It also handles all the necessary financial and logistical arrangements at competitive prices.
"Financing and sourcing is the group's main strengths. Our aim is to be here for a long term and we are easily reachable," says Bhatia.
The company currently imports 125,000 tonnes of steel a year to Dubai.
The materials supplied by the company include: Hot rolled coils, sheets, and plates; wire rods; tear drop coils and sheets; cold rolled coils and sheets; galvanised coils, sheets; prepainted coils and sheets; galvalume; tin plates in coils and sheet form; blackplate coils and sheets; billets; angles; wire rods; profiles; and welded pipes.
UMS sources its materials from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Oman, Europe, Poland and India.
This year the company will be sourcing huge quantities from Taiwan from companies such as Yieh Phui, Yieh Loong, Yieh Hsing, Yieh United and Lien Kang.
UMS has the worldwide (except in Oman) distribution rights for pipes produced by Al Jazeera of Oman.
Major demand for products supplied by the company comes from fabrication workshops, oil rigs and oil tanks, etc.
The Dubai office basically handles business in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, other GCC states, Yemen and India.
"We regularly bring cargo to Jeddah and Dammam. Kuwait is also another key market for us. We are heading towards Iran and Iraq and trying develop our business more and more in the region," says Bhatia.
The company caters to stockholders, having 30 of them in Dubai. Though the company has stocks in Dubai, it never sells directly. "We route all our business through stockholders," says Bhatia.
In Dubai, UMS claims to have a market share of 30 per cent for the type of products the company deals with.
"We have been able to make timely shipment of products from Russia and other CIS countries," he says.
The company has plans to have its own base in Jebel Ali Free Zone for re-exports to Yemen, Africa, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
On the market situation, Bhatia says steel prices have picked up considerably in recent months.
In the first quarter, the prices went up by $30 per tonne and it is expected that they will move up $15 per tonne in the second quarter, an additional $15 in the third quarter and another $10 in the fourth quarter, he says.
"This year will definitely see higher price and less quantity. The shortfall in quantity is not because of lack of demand here, but due to the high demand elsewhere and the higher prices offered by other markets," he says.
The full mastery of the industry's fundamentals allows us to enjoy the competitive advantage of globality, says Bhatia.
"We provide the highest level of professional service to our suppliers and customers.
"We will strive to increase our trade volumes, execute the core competencies of our business, and thus offer a more complete service to our markets and customers," says Bhatia.
