Dubai Aluminium Company targets the automotive sector

Officials from Dubai Aluminium Company, DUBAL, one of the world's largest producers of premium quality aluminium, turned their focus on the US$34 billion specialty automotive industry at the recently-held Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, to gauge the requirements of the clientele and the market.

The participation a the SEMA show was in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister for Finance and Industry and Chairman of DUBAL, to branch out and seek niche markets in order to achieve growth in diversified sectors.

Mr. Sultan Al Sabri Senior Manager, Marketing & Sales-Asia & North America , said, "Participation along with many of the renowned companies at the show in high tech racing gave us a good assessment of the market situation, the products that are mostly required in the industry and the growth of such a niche sector. Some of the participants included B & M Racing, Borg-Warner, Champion Spark Plugs, Firestone Tires, Simpson Race Products, Valvoline Oil and Weber Performance." There were a total of 6,817 member-companies at the SEMA show this year where more than 1,500 new style and performance products were introduced.

"The participation at the SEMA show provided us an intuition into the nature of the changes preferred by the leading market players. We are confident DUBAL has the necessary technology and superior equipment to supply such products as required by such customers," Mr. Sultan Al Sabri added.

As part of its continuing expansion programme, DUBAL recently inaugurated the expanded facilities at its two potlines – Potline 7 & 9 B – which has increased the production capacity by 100,000 tonnes per annum to a total of 861,000 TPA. The expansion was carried out at a cost of more than AED1-billion (USD280-million).

SEMA, founded in 1963, represents the US$34 billion specialty automotive industry of 6,817 member-companies. It is the authoritative source for research, data, trends and market growth information for the specialty auto parts industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger and recreational vehicles.

This year was also the 40th Anniversary of the SEMA exhibition, which featured over 2,200 exhibitors from all over the world displaying a wide range of automotive products. Several hundred of these companies were displaying at SEMA for the very first time.