Al Ghannam  Building Materials Company, one of the new entrants in the building materials sector of Saudi Arabia, is charting out an ambitious expansion plan in the kingdom, which will allow it to replicate the success it has achieved in the first year of its operations into the other regions in the kingdom.

“The booming real estate and industrial construction sectors in the kingdom have created a great demand for building materials," says Abdullah Al Ghannam, general manager. "It was only last year that we started our operations in the building materials sector with the opening of seven branches in the Eastern Province. The business in the region has been so strong that we have not just achieved our sales targets, but have exceeded it by 124 per cent. Part of this success can be attributed to the reputation we have built in the market in such a short span.”
“If we are to compare our successes with that of our competition, we have certainly raced ahead. In addition, it has also been possible for us to successfully implement all the plans that we had set for ourselves be it expansions, exports or sales targets.
“We also have plans to expand our business into newer markets in the kingdom and in this regard we have completed a one-year feasibility study of the local markets,” he says.
On the reasons behind the company’s foray into the materials business, he says: “We have been linked to the kingdom’s property market and entering the materials segment was only natural, since we were fully aware of its potential. When we started business, there was an increase in prices. Some of the decisions that we have taken have been viewed differently by others, but they have worked fine for us. One of these decisions was to procure all our raw materials overseas, since we believe that the world of building materials is closely linked to the world markets, either for steel types, raw materials, or materials in general. The key is to take quick decisions at the right time in terms of buying or selling by consulting experts in the field.
“Our motto is ‘partners in success’ and we believe in an arrangement which is mutually beneficial to all involved. We have even employed this principle among our employees, he adds.