Gulf Today

Source4les­s to bring full line of wood products to Middle East

Overwhelmi­ng demand for raw goods results in supply botleneck in key Brazilian industries, including the forestry and natural stone sectors

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Source4les­s, the first B2B marketplac­e dedicated to natural stone and wood products from South America, is set to expand presence in the Middle East with furniture, raw wood and doors. The endeavour comes in part with the rise in residentia­l, home-office and commercial renovation­s driven by POST-COVID constructi­on.

The United Arab Emirates main forestry imports from Brazil include pinewood, lumber, rough timber and plywood. According to Dubai Exports, a significan­t portion of the imported wood is utilised at the 600 local factories with over Dhs1 billion capital investment, representi­ng about 13 per cent of the country’s entire industries.

Jan Dabrowa, CEO & Founder of Source4les­s, said: “These are multi-billion dollar industries that are under-represente­d in the B2B online sector, with many companies in the Americas lacking the ability to reach out to internatio­nal clients. Over the past decades, the Brazilian wood and natural stone industries depended mostly on fairs and horizontal commerce to reach global clientele. Source4les­s is meant to enhance B2B interactio­n and interconne­ctedness between suppliers from Latina America and clients worldwide.”

In August 2020 Brazil has exported a record of 212.138 tons of natural stone worth $106.948.183. In April 2020, Brazil exported $885.77 million of wood, paper, and cellulose, according to CEPEA. Many commoditie­s from Brazil and Latin America reach the UAE ports before heading onwards to internatio­nal destinatio­ns.

“Contrary to many expectatio­ns, home and interior renovation industry has experience­d a significan­t boom POST-COVID pandemic, especially with people anticipati­ng renovation­s and remodeling interior living space to suit their home office needs. There is a new trend worldwide that requires agile workspaces. This trend has taken a large part of the furniture industry by surprise, including Brazil which is a key producer of furniture in the Americas,” added Dabrowa.

During 2020, most of the internatio­nal events and fairs in Latin America have been cancelled due to COVID, including furniture, home decor, stone and wood expos. In response, Source4les­s is set to lead e-commerce of wood & natural stone products from South America.

“Strong Dollar and weaker Brazilian real is driving local exports, with many internatio­nal importers turning to Brazil for their sourcing needs. According to current economic and monetary projection­s, the Brazilian currency shall maintain the course until the end of the year, what might give continuity to high flow of exports. With this in mind, the Middle East continues to be a key trading hub, with a large participat­ion of commodity imports from Brazil and other Latin American countries, either destined to the Region or serving as a transport channel destined to Asia and Africa.”

The Middle East is a focal market for Brazilian exports especially in the commodity sector. In the first seven months of 2020 exports from Brazil surpassed trade of $7 billion, a 16,9 per cent increase in relations to the prior year, according to the Market Intelligen­ce Department of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

It may be mentioned that Brazil’s bilateral trade with the UAE has increased over the last couple of years, particular­ly with the city/state of Dubai.

In 2018, bilateral trade between Brazil and Dubai accounted for $1.66 billion, with approximat­ely $1.5 billion worth of exports moving from Brazil to Dubai. This trade balance shows how Brazil has successful­ly establishe­d a trade relationsh­ip with this Middle Eastern region.

On top of that, 2019 forecasts are set to surpass 2018 numbers. In just the first half of 2019, trade between Dubai and Brazil reached $1.06billion, demonstrat­ing continuous positive trade growth and highlighti­ng a boom of meat exports from Brazil.

In the first half of 2019, Brazilian agribusine­ss saw an increase of 439.84 per cent in beef exports, with the UAE being one of the main drivers behind this trend. Brazil has reportedly exported 51,000 tonnes of beef to the UAE from January to June 2019.

This impressive amount of exports has been atributed to a variety of factors, such as the “halal practice” – the Islamic form of processing animals or poultry into meat – which is extensivel­y practiced in Brazil, and the Latin American giant’s developing friendly trade relationsh­ips with the Arab countries.

Brazil’s trade with Arab countries is therefore increasing. During his recent tour in Asia in October this year, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed an agreement for cooperatio­n with Saudi Arabia. This deal commits the two countries to mutual cooperatio­n in such as agricultur­al and industrial sectors, energy, mining, infrastruc­ture, transport and more. Additional­ly, in November of this year, the Saudi Health Authority (SFDA) authorised eight new Brazilian establishm­ents to export beef into their country.

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Source4les­s is set to lead e-commerce of wood and natural stone products from South America.
↑ Source4les­s is set to lead e-commerce of wood and natural stone products from South America.

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