Page 35 from: May 2015
then re-exported. ‘Many people from India are
now setting up yards in African countries where
they sort and process the metals on the spot,’
he notes. On the downside, at least for Dubai,
Saudi Arabia’s metals recycling industry is
growing stronger and is exporting more too.
Strong exports to Far East
Mir Metals sources 20-25% of its secondary
metals from Africa and the Gulf Coast region
and the remainder from Dubai, where many
new projects are generating large volumes of
scrap. The company’s main export markets are
India and the Far East whereas shipments to
China have been declining over the past three
years and are currently very slow. At present,
freight rates are low and vessels take only three
days to transport material from Dubai to India.
‘The Indian industry has a forecast of 6-7%
growth for the next few years,’ Mujtaba points
out, ‘because many multi-nationals such as car
makers are setting up production facilities in
India. Demand for notably aluminium, brass
and copper is picking up in the subcontinent.
Scrap from Dubai is shipped directly to Indian
Mir Metals Trading
at a glance
Mir Metals Trading is a Dubai-based company
trading in, among others, primary metals, all non-
ferrous metal scrap, stainless steel/alloyed scrap
and plastic. In addition, the company operates
ferrous and non-ferrous yards for trading, inspec-
tion, loading and shipments. The yards – which
handle scrap such as copper, brass, aluminium,
lead, zinc and stainless steel, among others – are
equipped with balers, briquetting machines and
other modern processing equipment. The com-
pany is currently in the fi nal stages of establishing
a scrap processing operation some 90 km from
Dubai, to include a small metal shredder. Mir Met-
als represents companies in other countries such
as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, acting as a
metals procurement agent. The company also has
its own offi ce in India. www.mirmetals.com
Mujtaba recalls. Today, there are six or seven
large scrap yards and hundreds of smaller oper-
ations. As a result, competition has become
much tougher and some companies have had a
hard time. ‘To me, doing business is all about
trust and relationships; price is less important,’
he insists. ‘Mir Metals is transparent; we hide
nothing. That’s my style of doing business.’
When asked where he sources his scrap metal,
Mujtaba explains that the majority comes from
‘neighbouring countries which do not have the
port facilities for export and therefore sell their
material to Dubai’. A large amount of scrap in
bulk from Africa arrives in Dubai where it is
processed and baled for export. ‘Dubai has real-
ly become a recycling hub between east and
west,’ Mujtaba declares. Material such as mixed
copper is regularly shipped from underdevel-
oped countries to Dubai where it is sorted and
advertisement
‘Competitors have
become friends.’
end users. I would say that Millberry from the
Middle East is the best in the world. As for
Birch/Cliff, material from the USA is superior,
I have to admit.’
RI 4-ME_MIR Metals.indd 35 30-04-15 14:43
