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INTERVIEW M ARCH 2020
EXTRUDING QUALITY
CMME VISITED GULF EXTRUSIONS TO SEE HOW ITS PRODUCTS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE MIDDLE EAST’S ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE. IN THE FIRST OF TWO REPORTS, WE PRESENT AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN WITSCH, THE ACCOMPLISHED CEO OF THE AL GHURAIR GROUP COMPANY Could we start with a short introduction about yourself? I have been in the aluminium industry for over 27 years now, starting in the flagship plant for the Hydrosapa group in my home country, Austria. I was able to devise some innovations there which are today used throughout the global aluminium industry. This allowed me to quickly rise to the corporate level, supporting the company’s extrusions plants globally. When Hydrosapa made a big acquisition in the US, I moved there to help improve the performance of the American plants. I moved to South America when similar acquisitions followed in Brazil and Argentina. Upon returning to Europe a few years later, I took charge of extrusion operations in Austria and then in Germany and Poland, becoming responsible for Eastern European extrusion activities as managing director. Afyter this, I was appointed as the MD for the UK and VP for Europe and Asia. Then Hydro and Sapa merged, becoming the biggest aluminium extrusion company in the world at that time with 150 plants in the world. In this new setup, I became global VP for all operations and was also taking care of all operational improvements, optimisation of extrusion lines, investment programmes and high-performance technology in all these areas. In 2017, I got the opportunity to become the CEO of Gulf Extrusions.
What is your perception of the Middle East market in the sectors that Gulf Extrusion works in? The region is not known as a manufacturing hub, but there still seems to be some good work going on in the aluminium sector here. That is correct. You have outstanding companies like Emirates Global Aluminium, which I think is one of the best aluminium billet suppliers in the world. We appreciate the quality of the billets we receive from them; they have excellent capabilities to produce fantastic raw materials for our process. And, as we operate to strict quality standards, we only use the highest quality raw materials. It’s also just next door to us in Dubai’s Jebel Ali area, so the transportation costs are negligible, which is of course a big advantage for us and our customers. From the perspective of Gulf Extrusions, we are an established and well-recognised company, set up 43 years ago, and we are the leading aluminium extrusions supplier in the Middle East. We also have a proven, fantastic track record of exporting superior automotive products to some of the best-known global names such as Jaguar-Land Rover, where we have been chosen for our capabilities and excellence. Also, in products like split cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, we are sole suppliers for companies of the calibre of Norgren, a leading name in Europe. So, we are doing very well in terms of technical expertise and in terms of having superior capabilities to
