05 March 2016
Muscat: Banking on the economic landscape floating on a positive stream, National Aluminium Products Company (Napco) has taken the bold step of doubling its production capacity as part of its commitment to supporting the government's long-term goal of seeing Oman as a manufacturing hub in the region.
"It is a huge step forward indeed but our expansion, which was initiated in 2014, was based on real demand. There were many occasions over the past two years where we had to turn down customer orders due to our machines running at full capacity so we know there is a big demand for Napco product in the region. I am confident that the expansion plan was the right move to make and I am sure Napco will be successful as long as the economic landscape floats on a positive stream," said Robert Holtkamp, Chief Executive Officer, Napco, in an interview with Times of Oman.
Talking about Napco's role in supporting the government's vision of seeing Oman as a manufacturing hub in the region, he said: "We are in full support of this and we are definitely doing our part in achieving this goal with the expansion which sees us going from the Top 25 category to a Top 10 in the aluminium extrusion industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We want to further solidify Oman manufacturing in the region but we also require their support with this goal."
Replying to a question about Napco's performance in 2015, Holtkamp stated: "The year 2015 was a very good year for Napco. We grew 45 percent in volume and had the biggest production ever in our 30-year history with the existing equipment. Napco's revenue grew over 30 percent with a net profit of 11 percent compared to 2014 with a net profit of 8 percent."
Operating from a land space of roughly 65,000 square metres, how much of Napco's production is exported and how much reserved for domestic market? Please also identify Napco's new export markets. Napco exports around 65 per cent of its production to neighbouring countries and roughly 35 per cent is sold in Oman.
"Outside of the GCC, our products are also sold in Europe and East Asia. We are exploring certain markets in Africa at this point and have come to agreements with traders mainly in East Africa. Our expansion will take our capacity to 42,000 mt per year so we intend to increase our sales in Oman, the region and further explore new markets," he added.
Where are your major competitors based and how do you fare competitively? Talking about its major competitors, the Napco CEO said: "Our major competitors are based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. One of our advantages is that we are a one stop facility for aluminium extrusions and finish services. We house four extrusion presses, a horizontal and vertical powder coating line that can accommodate up to eight meters, two wood finish lines and an anodizing line. In addition, we also have a thermal crimping and bending facility. We are able to offer real value for our many services and that keeps our clients loyal to Napco."
Robust expansion
The total expansion budget is OMR7 million. In early 2014, Napcohad a headcount of roughly 225 and we have increased that to 314 with an additional 31 planned in the near term to bring the total to 345. We are fully committed to providing further career opportunities to Omani nationals going forward and we look forward to increasing Omanisation yet further as we grow and as we enhance our training and mentoring infrastructure internally. Our priority is also set on retaining top talent who have assisted in NAPCO's success.
Does he expect the Omani government to support Napco's growth? "The government could help enormously by ensuring that Napco products are given priority in local projects as long as we can demonstrate our competitiveness in terms of quality and service delivery which of course we can. We are competing head on with neighbouring countries so related economic policies and regulations need to be geared toward helping companies like us compete. We face huge competition in the region so we need all the support we can get," Holtkamp added.
Vision 2018
When asked where did he see Napcoin 2018, he said: "This is a difficult call as we compete in markets that derive a major part of their income from oil revenues and we just don't know when we will see $65 or $70 a barrel again. However, in an ideal economic environment we want to achieve the Top 5 tag in the next two years and this can be achieved by hitting record production numbers with all our presses. We also want our Omanisation percentages to increase and to increase with a number much higher than government policy requires. Napco also feels it is important to give back to the community and this is evident in increased CSR activities which have taken place over the past year. We will continue our efforts to bolster community services, donating to charities and recycling which ultimately leads to a better Oman.
Muscat: Banking on the economic landscape floating on a positive stream, National Aluminium Products Company (Napco) has taken the bold step of doubling its production capacity as part of its commitment to supporting the government's long-term goal of seeing Oman as a manufacturing hub in the region.
"It is a huge step forward indeed but our expansion, which was initiated in 2014, was based on real demand. There were many occasions over the past two years where we had to turn down customer orders due to our machines running at full capacity so we know there is a big demand for Napco product in the region. I am confident that the expansion plan was the right move to make and I am sure Napco will be successful as long as the economic landscape floats on a positive stream," said Robert Holtkamp, Chief Executive Officer, Napco, in an interview with Times of Oman.
Talking about Napco's role in supporting the government's vision of seeing Oman as a manufacturing hub in the region, he said: "We are in full support of this and we are definitely doing our part in achieving this goal with the expansion which sees us going from the Top 25 category to a Top 10 in the aluminium extrusion industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We want to further solidify Oman manufacturing in the region but we also require their support with this goal."
Replying to a question about Napco's performance in 2015, Holtkamp stated: "The year 2015 was a very good year for Napco. We grew 45 percent in volume and had the biggest production ever in our 30-year history with the existing equipment. Napco's revenue grew over 30 percent with a net profit of 11 percent compared to 2014 with a net profit of 8 percent."
Operating from a land space of roughly 65,000 square metres, how much of Napco's production is exported and how much reserved for domestic market? Please also identify Napco's new export markets. Napco exports around 65 per cent of its production to neighbouring countries and roughly 35 per cent is sold in Oman.
"Outside of the GCC, our products are also sold in Europe and East Asia. We are exploring certain markets in Africa at this point and have come to agreements with traders mainly in East Africa. Our expansion will take our capacity to 42,000 mt per year so we intend to increase our sales in Oman, the region and further explore new markets," he added.
Where are your major competitors based and how do you fare competitively? Talking about its major competitors, the Napco CEO said: "Our major competitors are based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. One of our advantages is that we are a one stop facility for aluminium extrusions and finish services. We house four extrusion presses, a horizontal and vertical powder coating line that can accommodate up to eight meters, two wood finish lines and an anodizing line. In addition, we also have a thermal crimping and bending facility. We are able to offer real value for our many services and that keeps our clients loyal to Napco."
Robust expansion
The total expansion budget is OMR7 million. In early 2014, Napcohad a headcount of roughly 225 and we have increased that to 314 with an additional 31 planned in the near term to bring the total to 345. We are fully committed to providing further career opportunities to Omani nationals going forward and we look forward to increasing Omanisation yet further as we grow and as we enhance our training and mentoring infrastructure internally. Our priority is also set on retaining top talent who have assisted in NAPCO's success.
Does he expect the Omani government to support Napco's growth? "The government could help enormously by ensuring that Napco products are given priority in local projects as long as we can demonstrate our competitiveness in terms of quality and service delivery which of course we can. We are competing head on with neighbouring countries so related economic policies and regulations need to be geared toward helping companies like us compete. We face huge competition in the region so we need all the support we can get," Holtkamp added.
Vision 2018
When asked where did he see Napcoin 2018, he said: "This is a difficult call as we compete in markets that derive a major part of their income from oil revenues and we just don't know when we will see $65 or $70 a barrel again. However, in an ideal economic environment we want to achieve the Top 5 tag in the next two years and this can be achieved by hitting record production numbers with all our presses. We also want our Omanisation percentages to increase and to increase with a number much higher than government policy requires. Napco also feels it is important to give back to the community and this is evident in increased CSR activities which have taken place over the past year. We will continue our efforts to bolster community services, donating to charities and recycling which ultimately leads to a better Oman.
© Times of Oman 2016
