Gulf Times reported that a leading UAE based manufacturer of power cables is setting up a plant in Qatar late this year or early 2010.

The Qatar plant will be the first production unit of the company, Ducab, outside the UAE and with the setting up of a base in Doha, it is expected that Qatar could cut down on its cable imports, particularly for its booming oil and gas sectors, thus saving on the foreign exchange.

Mr Andrew Shaw MD of Ducab said that “We have a manufacturing licence. It will be set up in the Phase II which is expected to be late this year or early next year.”

He said that the Qatar plant would see limited manufacturing for selected products, declining further details regarding the total investment and capacity. Initially, the production would be for Qatar’s consumption but over a period of time, certain products could be made for the GCC markets.

Mr Shaw said that it was certainly an advantage to be closer to the raw materials suppliers such as PVC, steel and polyethylene. Qatar has been an important market for Ducab for many years and we are expanding now to support the increasing sales and the impressive growth of the Qatari economy and be closer to the growing market.

He said that “We got a great base to build on in Qatar. Now it is the time to step up because our market share in Qatar is not enough.”

Mr Shaw said that association with JBK group would continue even after setting up the manufacturing unit in Qatar.

He said that “definitely the oil and gas sector is very important and we are putting capacity to support the sector.”

Ducab now produces over 110,000 copper tonnes equivalent of low, medium and high voltage cables as well as components and accessories for a range of industrial applications throughout the world with the strongest markets being the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

(Sourced from Gulf Times)