BKT invests $3.75m in first UAE tower plant
12 April 2007German tower crane manufacturer BKT is to set up a new tower crane manufacturing company in the UAE, and the emirates' first tower crane plant.
The plant will be owned by ME@C - Middle East Asia Tower Crane. BKT sales executive Aribert Just explained "An independent company is being founded. It is being funded by BKT, with additional investment from a minority partner. The initial set up costs are $3m. The total initial budget for the project is $3.75m, which includes component costs and the cost of the buildings."
The tower crane plant will be in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, and will open this summer. Just said, "In the first year, we're aiming for a capacity of 36 cranes. As we hire qualified staff, we aim to increase production to 80-100 cranes a year. We'll try to hire staff from the local workforce first, but there is a shortage of qualified welders, so we expect to also be hiring from overseas. We will start with assembling, and then optimise the workflow down to producing our own mast sections, mechanical and electrical components."
