Dubai: RAK Ceramics is investing more than Dh25 million to expand its retail network in the UAE, a senior official said.
“These retail stores will be located in Shaikh Zayed Road, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah,” Abdullah Mahmoud, RAK Ceramics’ General Manager for Marketing and Corporate Communications, told Gulf News.
“Besides these, we are also consolidating our regional sales operations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Iraq ‑ where most supplies are being made from the plant in Iran.”
The company has also diversified its product portfolio by adding specialised products, such as the bathware, tableware collections.
“Lifestyle changes are the biggest driver of our sale in the UAE market,” he said.
The company, established in 1991, currently produces 117 million square metres of ceramic tiles, 4.5 million pieces of bathware and 15 million pieces of tableware that are sold in 160 countries.
Overcoming challenges
The company, which has undergone a challenging phase over the last four years of economic slowdown that affected the real estate and construction sector, reduced demand for ceramic tiles in the domestic market.
“However, despite the challenges, we have managed to supply over 1 billion square metres of tiles in 20 years — which is a milestone,” Mahmoud says. “The half of this, however, came during the last six years — including the four years of downturn. So, yes, the crisis had affected us, but we have overcome it with adding a diversified product range.”
Continued demand growth in Asian markets, such as India, China, Iran and Bangladesh has helped the company to withstand the pressures in the market.
RAK Ceramics has also introduced bathroom faucets collection through its subsidiary Kludi RAK — a joint venture with a German company. Last year, it has set up RAK Paints — a subsidiary for paints that has already gone into production.
“These are aimed at diversification of our product portfolio that will help the company grow to the next level,” Mahmoud says.
