Danube Building Materials, one of the leading building materials manufacturers and suppliers, has recently launched 43 colours in its melamine MDF (medium-density fibreboard) range that has given a boost to its product range, says the company.

The company has released the new colours in three categories: plain, American and European woodgrains and Exotic African woods. While nine of them fall in the plain category, one is in metallic, two are embossed and the remaining 31 are in woodgrain finish, says Deepak Mody, commercial manager of Danube.
Says Mody, the new range includes a few rare varieties such as chestnut, premium range of Walnut, Rosewood, Wenge, Ebony, Mapa burl, Birch burl and exotic wood such as Sapeli and Teak.
“The new range gives customers a wider choice as they can now choose from four varieties in beech, three in cherry and three in ash among other woodgrain colours. As these products are manufactured locally, they would also enjoy a significant price advantage to those imported from other countries,” he says.
“Interior decoration companies will welcome the addition of rare varieties – Wenge, Ebony, Birch burl and Mapa burl – as these would broaden the range of colours available for their decoration and design requirements.
“UAE-made melamine MDF would allow Danube to be more competitive in quality and price not only in the UAE market but across the GCC over European-made products,” he says.“With our current facility, we have the flexibility to produce melamine-face chipboard and MDF at different thicknesses ranging from 3 mm to 30 mm, which is an added advantage to customers.”
“We also provide single-side melamine MDF board in different thicknesses for routing and other such applications. The customer has the advantage to get larger quantities on demand with our facility as it avoids a lot of lead time compared to the longer waiting periods usually associated with importing European products,” he adds.
To add more colours to the new range, Danube plans to import two new plates to produce texture finish and a different ash print finish, says Mody.
Danube – which has supplied to a number of projects in the UAE – has recently signed a Dh2 million ($545,000) deal with ETA, a construction major in Dubai, for the supply of timber for the Springs project.
The contract, signed by Pawan Khanna, Danube’s president for sales, and AM Rao, division manager for ETA Joinery, in Danube’s Jebel Ali offices calls for the steady supply of timber over the next four months.
“ETA, one of the oldest and leading joinery in Dubai, considered the volatility of timber prices and scarcity of supply in signing the four-month contract,” says Khanna.
Danube procures timber in bulk, kiln dries it before supplying it to ETA. The kiln drying process, which removes the moisture from the timber, is being done at Danube’s facility in Jebel Ali, he adds.
Apart from kiln-drying equipment and a melamine MDF plant, Danube’s other value-added facilities include kitchen shutter manufacturing, veneer pressing, UV (ultraviolet lacquer coating on wood and veneer, CNC routing and manufacturing of other furniture components.
Danube also supplies ETA with other woods and MDF products for use in major ongoing projects.