NFT marketing manager Ziad Hissin says, “NFT was established in 1994. It secured the exclusive rights for Potain in the Middle East in 1995. As well as Potain tower cranes, the company gained exclusive contracts for Pega construction hoists in 2002, and for GJJ hoists in 2006. We have a stock of 25,000 authentic, certified, Potain spare parts. We maintain a complete stock of 350 new and used cranes. We have a few from other manufacturers, but they are predominantly Potain. Our cranes can be delivered anywhere in the world.
“NFT is the dealer for Potain across the Middle East: as well as the UAE, we supply cranes in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Manitowoc has its own base in Dubai, but all of their Potain tower cranes are distributed and supported through NFT. We have five main branches, in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Beirut, Qatar and Oman.
“We offer crane sales, rental, service and spare parts. We can supply operators at the customers’ request.”
NFT’s Potains are working on two big projects in the Emirates. One project, the Capital Plaza development in Abu Dhabi, has six Potain luffing jib MR 160 C cranes on site. The cranes were all purchased from NFT by main contractor Arabian Construction Company. The cranes will remain on the project through the completion at the end of 2009, under the watchful eye of NFT’s service engineers.
The 10t capacity cranes are all operating with their full jib complement of 50m and continue to climb throughout the development, with the tallest of the final hook heights reaching almost 200m. The cranes are handling steel rebar, formwork and other structural components on the development that will feature an office tower, a hotel and a residential tower.
Another project that relies on Potain luffing jib cranes for lift power is the Marina 101 supertall skyscraper under construction in Dubai. On this project there are two Potain luffing jib cranes, an MR 160 C and an MCR 225 A. The MR 160 C is working at a free standing height of 54.2m with 45m of jib, while the 14t capacity MCR 225 A also has 45m of jib. As on the Capital Plaza development, the Potain cranes are lifting a variety of general building materials and are climbing as the project grows.
Main contractor TAV Construction chose to purchase rather than rent the cranes from NFT. Marina 101 will eventually reach a height of 412m and reach 101 storeys. It will feature 324 hotel rooms and 506 residential units. When construction ends in 2010, it will be the second tallest residential skyscraper in the world. Only two metres taller, the Princess Tower, another skyscraper under construction in Dubai that also uses a Potain tower crane, an MR 160 C, will be the tallest.
NFT managing director Nabil Al Zahlawi says, “Construction activity in the UAE remains high with a large number of developments underway. Projects continue to run 24 hours a day and so do Potain cranes. There are a number of ambitious projects taking shape and with demanding work schedules contractors are looking for powerful and reliable cranes backed by strong service.”
Hissin says, “We have seen a lot of projects in Dubai frozen. Dubai did account for a huge percentage of our business, but, because we work across the Middle East, we’re not feeling it in the same way as some smaller companies. We’re currently looking to expand in Kuwait. The market there is promising a boom, and we want to dominate the crane market there. The same is true for Oman and Qatar.
“We currently have 68 cranes working on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) project in Saudi Arabia, about 80km from Jeddah. In Qatar, we have 28 cranes working on the Barwa City project in Doha.”
Zahlawi adds, “In this kind of environment, service becomes essential so it is a real focus of our business and is always a high priority for us. Of course the Potain name is well-known here and trusted, and because we have built our fleet of cranes over the past 12 years, we have been able to supply cranes quickly which is another key requirement for working in this market.”
