For over four decades, U.S.-Saudi Business Council Member, Saudi Ceramics, has led the Kingdom’s building solutions market to become one of the largest manufacturers of its kind in the Middle East. Mr. Hasan AlHazzaa, Export Department Manager at Saudi Ceramics, spoke to the Council about the company’s high quality, locally manufactured line of products and its ambitions for global expansion into North America.
- Saudi Ceramics is the largest manufacturer of its kind in Saudi Arabia, producing ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles, sanitary wares, water heaters, bathtubs, bathroom accessories, and more – how did your company get to this point?
For the past 44 years, Saudi Ceramics has been a leading provider of quality building solutions. A testament to its leadership in the Saudi market is the company’s large production volume across its 14 factories, producing a variety of tile products, heaters, and sanitary materials. This provides our company with an advantage over the competition when entering government and private projects. We’ve built mutual trust with our customers through the quality of our product and our various sales channels, including our more than 40 showrooms across the Kingdom and our clients’ showrooms. Our products are Saudi-made and offer the highest quality, latest design, and meet all international safety standards.
2. Are there plans to begin manufacturing overseas?
We currently do not have manufacturing facilities outside of the Kingdom. However, as a company with a global expansion strategy, nothing prevents us from offering manufacturing or logistical solutions in foreign countries which would expedite consumers’ access to our products while reducing costs and transportation time. Furthermore, manufacturing opportunities for international companies can be studied and evaluated to measure their effectiveness in spreading the companies’ products to new markets.
3. Do you export to other countries? If so, how does that experience help you enter the U.S. market?
Yes, we currently export our products to many countries within Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America which has given us the confidence to enter the American market and convince consumers of the quality of Saudi-made products and of our rich experience in meeting the needs of international clients.
4. What products or services give you a competitive advantage over other exporters into the U.S.?
The American consumer can identify safe to use, high-quality products. This is what we offer at Saudi Ceramics and what we believe can convince the American consumer to use our product over the competitions’.
5. What are you looking for the most in a U.S. partner?
Saudi Ceramics is looking for partners with successful product distribution track records in the largest number of U.S. states. This partner should have a distribution fleet, storage warehouses, and showrooms to display our products. Above all, any potential partner must provide after-sales service and utilize digital applications for online sales.
