NFT was a major supplier to the Princess Noora University project in KSA
NFT’s managing partner Nabil Al Zahlawi says that changes to the crane market means that rental now makes up 85% of the company’s business.
In an interview with Zawya, Al Zahlawi said that the Abu Dhabi-based crane specialist has become much more international in its approach following the real estate bubble of 2008 and 2009.
“[After] the crash, we changed our business model from Dubai to Asia and moved a big part of our cranes business to India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. This is the third year that we [have been] renting equipment and the rest of the industry is also doing the same,” he said.
Al Zahlwai added: “There was a time when Dubai was the crane capital of the world and home to almost 25% of the world’s cranes. [Around] 85% of our market is from the rental business. During the boom time, there were 10 customers for one machine. Now there are 100 sellers for one machine. It is a very tough market.”
According to Al Zahlawi, NFT remains the biggest player in the region. He says that NFT accounts for more than over 60% of the cranes market in the Middle East.
“Based on our market studies, we plan to have more branches covering the entire region, which in turn will improve our ability to understand and meet the changing global market requirements,” he said. “Additionally, we plan to expand geographically to other markets like India, [countries in the] Far East, Canada and other [locations]. We want to move the success of our business model in the UAE to new markets until we see a total recovery in the MENA region.”