Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal Credit Insurance Company, continues to provide support to UAE steel manufacturers to expand their export business and Conares is the latest company to benefit from this.

Conares is a regional major private manufacturer in the UAE, annually producing one million tonnes of steel products including steel pipes, rebars and pre-painted coils. ECI will be protecting Conares’ export volume by offering them international trade credit coverage solutions and ease the steel manufacturer to open new markets, said a statement.

The business in scope under this agreement includes exports of manufacturing and trading of steel rebar and steel pipes. This will help Conares to strategically identify potential customers in the international markets.

Conares has signed up with ECI for a multi-buyer trade credit solution, which will minimise the risks connected to the exports of their products to international markets. This agreement will also provide access to ECI’s comprehensive information database platform of 360 million corporates in both domestic and international markets.

Conares has a worldwide network and this coverage will help the company to strengthen its expansion plans and enhance its export capabilities.

Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, said: “It is ECI’s mandate to strengthen UAE businesses’ export capabilities by providing a broad suite of tailored trade credit solutions that helps UAE manufacturers to achieve their goals and expand their business in the international and domestic markets.”

“Conares has established its position in the steel industry and reinforced the region’s infrastructure development by providing industry-leading steel products through long-standing partnerships. It is this vision that has encouraged them to access high-growth markets and widen their exporting potential across borders,” he said.

“Also to fulfil their vision, ECI listened to the needs of Conares and created a bespoke trade credit solution that provides risk coverage to their businesses while accessing cross-border markets,” he added.

Bharat Bhatia, CEO of Conares, said: “We are pleased to sign the deal with ECI as it will help us expand our business in new international markets by increasing volume of production and achieve one million tons of production in the next few years.”

“This initiative will open our markets especially in some regions where we hesitated to give open credits earlier. We are targeting 50 to 75 per cent maximisation of our annual production capacity to meet the increased demand with this deal. With the maximised utilisation of facility, our desired turnover is Dh2 billion, which currently is Dh1 billion,” Bhatia said.

“We have received tremendous support from the UAE’s federal and local government agencies, helping our products gain market wide acceptance and cater to numerous prestigious projects in the country and beyond. We have a strong presence in the international market as well. We are also in the process of developing new markets for our products,” he added.

Conares, being the ‘Made-in-UAE’ steel manufacturer, will have its starting sale of $150 million worth products covered by this partnership with ECI; and more than 10 banks has come forward with investment support. For the first time in the UAE’s steel manufacturing sector, the risk of exports to the US and the EU are covered. With this initiative, ECI will support more largescale industries in future by protecting their trade related risks. – TradeArabia News Service