Page 33 from: October 2014

33October 2014

‘Major challenge’
At Aboura Metals’ headquarters in Dubai,

30-year-old Ibrahim Aboura co-ordinates the

company’s day-to-day operations at its yards

and subsidiaries. He represents the third gen-

eration of his family to join the business. Born

and raised in Jordan, he moved to Canada to

finish high school and to go to university where

he graduated with a degree in international

business. He then joined the family company’s

Dubai office some eight years ago.

In October last year, Ibrahim was elected a

board member of the BIR world recycling

organisation’s Non-Ferrous Metals Division,

in which role he represents the Middle East – a

region facing perhaps more challenges than

ever before. And this means a testing time too

for its scrap industry, Aboura underlines. ‘The

geopolitical situation in the Middle East con-

tinues to be unstable and it is unclear when

things will improve,’ he accepts. ‘What we do

know is that this will be a major challenge for

us and other exporters.’

According to Aboura, another challenge for the

industry to tackle concerns ‘the stricter govern-

mental regulations for scrap exporting or

importing in the region, as well as in Europe

and India’. In addition, there is the constraint

of ‘tight profit margins’ resulting from a ‘high-

ly competitive’ market.

A major at home and beyond
Aboura Metals is a high-profile player in the

international scrap metal industry. ‘We special-

ise in processing secondary aluminium alloy

ingots and in the trading of secondary scrap

metals, ranging from aluminium to zinc,’ notes

the firm’s managing director.

At its yards, the business processes materials ‘in

accordance with international specifications

and standards whilst meeting our buyers’

requirements’. The company has invested sub-

stantial sums of money in its development,

notably in modern machinery such as shears,

specialised sorting lines for aluminium bever-

age cans, balers, shredders for copper and alu-

minium, and granulators.

Guided from its headquarters in Dubai, the com-

pany operates through its subsidiaries in the

Middle East and Africa region, collecting scrap

metal from partners and suppliers in Sudan,

Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In terms

of non-ferrous scrap alone, the company handles

and trades some 150 000 tonnes per year.

Facing increased competition
The management team at Aboura Metals illus-

trates the extent to which this company is a truly

family affair – not only at the head office in

Dubai but also at the firm’s locations elsewhere.

The business is currently run by four managing

partners, namely: Hassan Aboura and Ali Abou-

ra, who are in charge of the Jordan operation;

Ghazi Aboura, who is head of the Saudi opera-

tions; and Nasser Aboura, who is at the helm of

all of the company’s UAE operations.

Over the course of six decades, Aboura Metals

has developed solid foundations thanks to its

established presence and wide experience in the

region. But in the Middle East, business is

becoming ever more complex – and not just

because of the violent conflicts currently taking

place there. Ibrahim Aboura elaborates: ‘The

scrap metals industry in the Middle East is

becoming increasingly competitive, with an

increasing number of suppliers entering the

market, low profit margins and limited avail-

ability of scrap metals.’

In addition, Aboura draws attention to an

‘increased awareness among traders of the

importance of sustainability and recycling,

which is driving the industry in a clear and sta-

ble direction’. To illustrate his point, he notes

that leading players from within the region’s

metal recycling industry formed the Bureau of

Middle East Recycling (BMR) some six years

ago. This serves the interests of the local scrap

industry and also promotes the advancement

of the industry on a global scale.

At the individual level, Aboura highlights the

importance of creating all the conditions neces-

sary to build a solid and profitable business.

He explains: ‘To run a good, healthy business

in this industry, you need to build a credible

brand name, based on trust, as we are dealing

in an industry in which the buyers and sellers

sometimes do not meet face to face but still

manage to do business and ship materials as

they have always done for decades without any

problem.’

A true family business: (upper left) Ibrahim Aboura, Saeed Aboura,
Maher Aboura, Hussein Aboura, Hassan Aboura and Tarek Aboura;
(bottom left) Ghazi Aboura, Mohamed Hasan Aboura, Ali Aboura and
Nasser Aboura.

Operations in full swing at Aboura’s
scrap yard in Amman, Jordan.

Aboura’s melting factory in Amman, Jordan.

All in the family

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