Dubai Cables Co. ltd. (Ducab) has inaugurated its first copper rod plant and the new cable factory yesterday morning at the Mussafah Industrial Area. The $45 million copper rod plant, which is the first copper rod factory in the UAE, has a capacity of 110, 000 tonne per annum.

The two facilities were unveiled by Shaikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court and Chairman of the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp).   A large number of dignitaries, including ministers, senior officials,

Ducab customers and suppliers attended the inauguration ceremony of the state-of-the-art factories. "We meet here to inaugurate our company's two new plants, the copper rod, which is the first of its kind in the UAE and the new cable factory which increases our capacity by 40 per cent. The $45 million copper rod plant, which occupies an area of about three thousand square meters, has a production capacity of 110,000 tonnes of high quality copper rod per year, which can be increased to 160,000 tonnes in the future," Ahmad bin Hassan Al Shaikh, Ducab Chairman said.

"The state-of-art copper rod factory will apply the highest international quality standards and will provide all of the Ducab's rod requirements. In addition, there will be product available to serve the regional market," he added.

Highlighting on the copper rod plant, Ducab Managing Director, Andrew Shaw, said the new copper rod plant will take the raw copper cathode and convert it to high quality 8mm diameter copper rod — the key raw material for cable manufacture.

"With the new factory having been officially inaugurated, we will be able to replace imported copper rod with material manufactured in the UAE. It's a further strengthening of the UAE industrial base," he added.

He pointed out that Ducab bought the Abu Dhabi facility to ensure the company has enough capacity to satisfy demand. He said the acquisition has increased the company's production capacity by about 40 per cent allowing it to grow its regional market share.

"The new factory in Abu Dhabi is a welcome addition to Ducab's capacity in the UAE. As a market leader we are committed to continual improvement in all aspects of our business and with this new facility we will be able to further improve product offer, service and delivery to our customers," he added.

By launching the two new plants, Ducab, which is jointly owned by the Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments, is on course to achieving its strategic plan of meeting the growing demand of the local and regional markets for copper rod and power cables of various voltages.

During the inauguration ceremony, Abdullah Mohammed Saleh, Ducab founder board member and ex-chairman, was honoured by Shaikh

Hamed and the Ducab board members.

Saleh was the first to float the idea of manufacturing cables in the UAE and was present at the inauguration ceremony of Ducab by the late Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1979. Since then he continued to serve the company as a director with utmost dedication and loyalty.

He has contributed immensely to the company's achievements with nearly 30 years of service on the board.