Zahara by East Coast Promotions

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

Zahara Group

www.zaharagroup.com | T: +971 4 452 2230

“Reinventing excellence”

Editorial: Christian Jordan

After becoming Managing Director of the multi-national ZAHARA Group while still in his twenties, Mr Radwan Azam now leads the organisation as it looks to expand its already sterling reputation in the Middle East petrochemical industry. He tells Total World Energy more about some of the expansion plans that the company is working on and how he manages an organisation that has his family at its heart…

The Middle East petrochemical industry has seen spectacular growth over the past 30 years but petrochemical producers that want to expand domestically face major challenges. There is of course the issue of export; some of

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the customers to the Middle East’s petrochemical industry, especially those in growth markets, are thousands of kilometres away, located in Africa, Asia, Europe and further afield. So as growth becomes more and more challenging, how

can Middle East petrochemical companies stay at the forefront of the industry? According to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, petrochemical producers should become leaders in operating and functional efficiency.

ZAHARA GROUP And one company that is way ahead of the game, already acting as a leader in operational excellence and functional efficiency is ZAHARA Group. Founded in India by current Chairman, Mr Mohamed Azam, the company is now under the control of Managing Director and second generation leader, Mr Radwan Azam. The company’s primary operations consist of manufacturing and trading in a diverse range of products related to industrial grade oils, lubricating oils, grease and fur nace oil. Mr Radwan Azam explains more about the history of the company growing from a small petrochemical concer n to an inter national petrochemical, lubricant, refining, shipping and logistics and trading business with a global network of customers and suppliers. “ZAHARA Group is a Middle East based downstream petrochemical company with its group corporate office in Dubai. The group was actually established back in India and we now have a base in Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and our headquarters in UAE,” he says. “The first generation entrepreneur was my father, Mr Mohammed Azam, who founded the company in the 90’s in India and he is the Chairman of the group. On a visit to the UAE, he recognised the potential for expansion in the petrochemical industry in the Middle East and he established a base in early 2000. “We started our trading business by establishing a company called ZAHARA Petrochemicals in the UAE and in early 2004/05 we started a

small refinery and this was one of the first private refineries to be established in the region. We started small and have expanded drastically. Since inception, ZAHARA Group has recorded fantastic growth and has consolidated its credentials as a trusted manufacturer and trader in the downstream petrochemical industry in the Middle East.”

EVER GROWING ZAHARA Group operates under the corporate philosophy and work culture of REINVENTING EXCELLENCE; a tag line installed by Mr Radwan to ensure that the company continues on a growth path, building on what his father had already established. “REINVENTING EXCELLENCE is a second generation invention. I manage the whole group and my brother, Fardan, looks after operations for the company and we came up with the ‘Reinventing Excellence’ tag line. The first

generation was a base that my father created and now in the second generation, we are reinventing and expanding the business to a new level. We hope that the market will identify us as a company that reinvents excellence as this is a promise of attitude that we use to define our own continuous achievement,” explains Mr Radwan. “We are constantly exploring and coming up with new projects. We started in petrochemicals and now we are entering lubricants. Here we have formed a brand name and we are building a large base for manufacturing and production of lubricants and grease in the region. “Today, we are expanding our trading division family. We will add 60-70 people in manufacturing and 30-40 people in trading. We have a very good team and our strategy focusses on how we can add value to a quality product in a

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From left to right : Fardan Azam Director, Mohamed Azam Chairman, Radwan Azam Managing Director reliable and holistic manner to add credibility and value for our business partners. Our corporate strategy involves a process of continuous improvement in efficiency and quality and we always strive for the bet results,” he adds. The company has a growing base of inter national and regional clients and ensures that each location is treated with its own focus to ensure optimal efficiency. “Every company has a different strategy and every entity in the petrochemical industry has a different focus

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“Since inception, ZAHARA Group has recorded fantastic growth and has consolidated its credentials as a trusted manufacturer and trader in the downstream petrochemical industry in the Middle East”

on their products in the downstream sector but we have structured planning where we focus individually on a different region so that we can extend our reach to end customers,” says Mr Radwan. “We have business associations with companies in the region like BP, Shell, ENOC, ADNOC as well as many of the power plants across Asia where we are supplying their petrochemical needs so we do work with major inter national players as well as smaller local players in the region.”

ZAHARA GROUP EXPANSION PLANS As with any business, growth has long been the number one goal for ZAHARA Group and to date it has not been extremely difficult to come by but as the operations of the group become larger and the industry, especially in the Middle East, begins to reach maturity, growth will become more difficult. This is why Mr Radwan and the rest of the management team are continually exploring new opportunities for investment. Right now there are a number of projects that are underway or in planning stages that will allow the group to grow and develop efficiently and in a way that only impacts positively on the organisations operations. “We have bought an existing plant in Jabel Ali and we are starting production here. We are going to be the largest production unit in the region in the Hamriyah Port in Sharjah. Altogether, in the third quarter of 2015, we will have capacity of around 250,000MT per annum so we have developed new marketing strategies to market these brands of lube oil across GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council),” explains Mr Radwan. “We are also developing storage terminals. One is in the Hamriyah Port and we have about 50,000 CBM of space where we are trading our products. Some of these projects are still in the planning stages but some are complete. “Construction of our facility in Saudi Arabia is underway and we are expecting to start operations by the first quarter of 2015 - it should not be later than February or March. This is a long-running project because

of gover nment approvals and license policies but our manufacturing set-up has already been completed and we are ready for production. Legal formalities and structuring, gover nment policies and other factors have added to the timescale of this project but we will be ready by first quarter 2015. In Saudi Arabia, we are starting with a petrochemical plant and then in the second phase we will come with lubricants.” The company has also already started construction of a new Vacuumwhich Tankeris facility in Mumbai expected to be completed in the first or second quarter of 2015. “The facility in Kuwait is in the planning stage and we doing some environmental studies right now so that will take some time. We are definitely looking to step into Egypt as well but tankerstages. (3 axle) these16,500 are allIGindiesel planning

as retailers,” Mr Radwan says. “Our lube oil brand is not yet an established brand and companies like Shell and Total have their established brands. “We will also be focussing on our projects that are set for completion in 2015 and then we will be planning for a base in Europe where we hope to have a trading set-up in Geneva and London. This is still in the planning stage but it is a wish for the future for us.”

QUALITY FOCUS Cargoexpansion Body With so much and growth going on within ZAHARA Group, it has been vitally important for the business to remain focussed on delivering quality – quality products and services – to ensure that end users remain content and the brand maintains 45 Cbm Tipper

Having a base in Egypt gives us its strong reputation. This focus huge potential in the region as on quality has been instilled there are not too many private in the culture of the business players in the downstream from founder, to management, industry,” Mr Radwan adds. throughout the entire work force. Away from the physical Mr Radwan explains that no expansion of the organisation’s expansion or investment decision footprint, ZAHARA Group is also 8000 DIesel Tanker 2000 without MT Storage Tanks is made exhaustive expanding its IG product range. consultation with advisors. The move into the lubricants “We have a strong culture of business has been a successful teamwork,” he says. “Before one so far and the company’s we start with any plans we have flagship brand, LUBISLE, a strong dialogue with internal continues to fulfil the ever advisors with whom we consult growing demand for lubricants and undertake auditory research and grease in the regions of before we make any decisions. Middle East, Africa and SouthLow-Bed Flat Bed Trailer We don’t look at short-term East Asia while maintaining commitments, we have longits premium quality and ISO term plans where we can start prescribed standards. Tel :+971 6 526 9107 :: Fax :+971 6 526 9106 :: Mob:+971 50 243 6658 sustainably and grow within certain “Our plans for the future P.O.product Box 499734 :: Hamariyahmarkets. Freezone :: Sharjah :: UAE concer n our range “We have a very strong in-house that’s why we have launched Al Mafraq – Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates project and we go through our lubeEmail oil brand where we are : info@qasioongroup.com :: Web team : qasioongroup.com many consultations to ensure that targeting only end users such

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when we undertake projects, we do things to the highest possible level.” This consultation extends throughout all outcomes from any investment decision and takes into account commercial factors as well as other considerations such as employees, the community and the environment. “We have a strong environmental focus and we have made our predictions for the coming ten years about where we expect to stand at each level. We have a strong commitment to the environment that’s why we have a total recycling policy and we contribute a lot of environmental

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responsibility to the industry,” says Radwan.

A FAMILY AFFAIR It’s important to remember that after all the success and expansion of the company since its formation, ZAHARA Group is a family run business with much of its success being owed to the vision of Mr Mohamed Azam and the drive and ambition of Mr Radwan and Mr Fardan. That being said, the second generation of leadership are keen to position the company as more of a corporate body with clear roles and strategies. According to Mr Radwan, there is

no conflict, no nepotism and no difficulty in running the business as a family. “This is a family run company but we changed the atmosphere to become more like a corporate entity. We have defined our roles and everybody has a different focus within the business. My father is the Chairman and overlooks the company more as an advisor in new project developments. My brother has taken complete control of all production and technical aspects and I take responsibility for overall management; business development, trading and finances

Shah Deniz platform - Photo Shahin Abasaliyev - Statoil

ZAHARA GROUP of the company. “I came on board early in 2006. I was not fully involved and I was trying to learn things. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in business administration but early on I was trying to understand the business. My father was busy trying to develop things and implement a structure but he did want the new generation to come on board. I took over the business more completely in 2010 but I was still learning and it took time for me to understand everything. My first strategy was to change the focus and vision of the group and become a corporate entity. I always wanted to develop and expand what my father had started. I had always spent time in and around the business because of him and I knew that when I graduated I wanted to step into

“Having a base in Egypt gives us huge potential in the region as there are not too many private players in the downstream industry”

the business with him,” Mr Radwan explains. And as for one of the major problems that faces many family run businesses, the succession plan, Mr Radwan says that he has no doubt that the third generation of his family will eventually take control of ZAHARA Group, further expanding it and overcoming the challenges that will arise in the future. “We will have to mentor the next generation like my father trained me from a young age. It’s an expanding world and with business we have our limitations but my father had limitations that we were able to overcome in the second generation so I would definitely want the third generation to come in and expand the business even further,” he concludes

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