ECI supports exporters to expand their businesses

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal Credit Insurance Company, continues to provide support to UAE manufacturers to expand their export business.

Conares is a regional major private manufacturer in the UAE; annually producing 1 million tonnes of steel products - 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.

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 commented: “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. And 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.”

Commenting on this agreement, 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 tonnes 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 Dhs2 billion, which currently is Dhs1 billion.”

“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.

Etihad Credit Insurance (PJSC) was established by UAE Federal Government and its founders, the governments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Ajman. The company started its operations in February 2018. ECI plays a catalyst role in supporting the UAE’s non-oil exports, trade, investments and strategic sectors development, in line with UAE Vision 2021 agenda.

It is tasked to accelerate and sustain national economic diversification as well as support the export and re-export of UAE goods, works, services, and the foreign investments of the UAE businesses as well as support the exporters in the domestic trade through a range of export credit, financing and investment insurance products.

To provide UAE businesses with solutions that meet their growth objectives locally and internationally, ECI builds a comprehensive platform of strategic partnerships across government, insurers, re-insurers, brokers, banks and lenders, regional and international Export Credit Agencies, governments and trade promotion agencies in addition to world organisations for economic development.

ECI has also been assigned Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) Rating and an Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of AA- (Very Strong) with Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings.

With its foothold securely placed in the steel industry, Conares is the one of the largest and the only private steel manufacturers in the region. Since its inception in 1988, Conares initially focused on steel trading. Having built extensive partnerships with renowned steel plants across the world, it brought the world-best competencies to the region, by setting up its own state of art manufacturing facility in UAE. Being a 100 per cent privately owned entity, the company assets exceed US$350 million of investments in the UAE.

As the Middle East focuses on development, Conares serves as the perfect partner to meet the growing industry requirements for steel rebars and pipes. A diversified and full-fledged manufacturing facility based in the UAE, the strategic hub between the East and the West, Conares today is the premier producer of quality steel products for wide-ranging needs; having a total manufacturing capacity of 1,000,000 MT annually. Conares earned various international product certifications for its various steel products, which it serves in the fledgling construction industry in the region and abroad.