Constructionshows
SIMA was present at BATIMATEC 2012, International Exhibition of Building Materials, Construction and Public Works in May of this year. BATIMATEC is the sector’s leading trade fair in Algeria. The importance of the event resides in the strategic commercial location of Algeria and the significant growth of the sector in the country in recent years.
Algeria is a strategic country for SIMA. The region is amongst the company’s five most important markets, accounting for 6% of total sales and 8% of exports.
BATIMATEC 2012, the 15th edition of this fair was held in May at the Algiers Exhibition Palace. The event has taken an enormous significance and it boasted the participation of 544 Algerian and 488 foreign companies from 23 countries (Turkey, Italy, France and China, amongst others). Spain had its own exhibition hall, which housed 47 companies.
In this context and bearing in mind these figures, David Vílchez, SIMA Manager of International Sales for Europe, Asia and Africa points out that, “we attended this event as part of our policy of expansion and development in the Algerian market. We simply had to be present at the most important exhibition in the region”.
At last year’s edition, the company had its own stand. This time SIMA opted to participate by showcasing its products at the stands of its dealers, “in the role of manufacturer, helping them secure orders for our machines”, pointed out the Director of International Sales for Europe, Asia and Africa. Alexis Morales, Manager of French-Speaking Markets at SIMA, adds that “we believe that this helped reinforce the credibility of the dealer. It was also a good way of gaining more knowledge of the competition”.
Because the company was represented at four different stands, clients could see “SIMA’s strong representation in Algeria. We believe that this represents a clear advantage as far as they are concerned, because supply is what generates demand for the product”, says David Vílchez.
Objectives achieved
The results have been highly satisfactory: the objectives set were clearly achieved, SIMA’s presence in this market has been reaffirmed and the company’s full product portfolio was presented to both construction companies and end users.
As Alexis Morales points out, another important objective at this fair was to complete the training of sales representatives and technical staff working for dealers, “in order to provide them with greater professionalism as regards SIMA and its products”.
Thanks to its presence at BATIMATEC 2012, SIMA has secured a number of important deals in the region.
Algeria, a strategic location
Algeria has become a location of particular interest to Spain, due to its geographic situation and the strong economic growth of the last five years (approximately 3.4% on average). From the SIMA perspective, David Vílchez points out that “although 2012 started slowly, we are now seeing the pace and volume of sales beginning to pick up””
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The country is the object of heavy investment from companies and is going through a modernisation process that has led to growth in the building sector. Two years ago, the government ratified the Five-year Plan for 2010-2014, with total investment of 212 billion euro. The plan will see the construction of two million houses (1.2 million of which will be delivered in the next five years) and other infrastructures, such as schools, sports complexes, hospitals, health centres, etc. In fact, the slow start to the year was attributable to delays in a number of public tendering processes.
SIMA representatives are optimistic: “it is an ambitious, large-scale project and although some political instability may arise that might affect the economy, as is the case in all Arab countries, we are hopeful that this will not happen and that our good progress in Algeria will continue”, says David Vílchez.
The company now boasts an extensive dealer network in the region. This has enabled machines such as the Trencher 60/70, the Cobra-40, the COMBI and CEL rebar range and the Mekano range to
achieve great popularity in the market.
New dealers in neighbouring countries
The situation is not the same in neighbouring countries. In Morocco, for instance, “there is great deal of used machinery from Spain on the market”, say Alexis Cantón.
It must also be borne in mind that political stability has not been restored to either Tunisia or Libya and therefore sales figures have not returned to previous levels. Nevertheless, in order to achieve greater market penetration in the region, SIMA reached an agreement at BATIMATEC 2012 with a Tunisian dealer boasting a branch in Tripoli. In the words of David Vílchez, “this agreement represents a favourable starting point and means that we now have a dealer, and a sales and distribution structure in the country”.
Source: Sima News Room
