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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