SDC Trailers has opened a subsidiary for the Middle East in Dubai, UAE.
The Northern Irish trailer manufacturer took the decision to establish an official regional office following a series of HGV-related deals with GCC customers, including a $1.7m order from Saudi Arabia’s Rezayat Group.
Although the privately owned firm has been active in the Gulf market for a number of years, it now has permanent presence in the form of SDC Middle East.
“SDC has been working in the Middle East for some time, but now was the time to officially establish a permanent presence here in the region after we have witnessed stellar growth in the last few years,” said Mark Cuskeran, managing director of SDC Group.
“We identified a gap in the export market for a stronger, sturdier trailer for heavy haulage in the Middle East, which a $1.7m (AED6.2m) trailer order late in 2014 from Rezayat Group in Saudi Arabia underlined.
“A dedicated presence based in-market will now help us focus on providing specialist trailer builds for regional clients,” he added.
The official launch of SDC Middle East took place in Dubai. The event was supported by Invest Northern Ireland, and was attended by the country’s Enterprise, Trade, and Investment Minister, Arlene Foster.
“The countries of the GCC, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are target markets for Northern Ireland exporters, education, and tourism,” Foster commented.
“Growing export sales and the growth of local businesses is a core area of growth for us, so I want to congratulate SDC on [its] continued foresight,” she explained.
Gavin Diamond, managing director of SDC Parts and Service, said: “The opening of SDC Trailers’ office in the UAE comes after strong growth and the development of key strategic partnerships across the Middle East.
“In the last few months alone, our Parts and Service business has secured nearly $182,000 (AED664,454) worth of business, and we have a strong pipeline of trailer orders,” he revealed.
Diamond added that because of its “strategic position” and “enhanced regional logistics structures”, the Middle East represents an obvious target market for SDC.
The manufacturer increased production by 30% across its four manufacturing plants during 2014. It is currently producing more than 8,000 trailers per year, and the group’s annual turnover is projected to grow by approximately $64.9m (AED236.7m) to $250.3m (AED913.6m) in 2015.
