Palmera stirs up landscaping supply in Qatar

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Palmera stirs up landscaping supply in Qatar

Stand first:

Work in Qatar presents perfect climate to redress precarious supply to the landscaping market

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Palmera is an integrated outdoor contractor and increasingly supplier in Qatar as it develops its own supply chain in-house and proceeds with ongoing negotiations with overseas manufacturers.

Highlighting the problem, general manager, Aamer Mahasen, notes: “It is hard to get anything without having to wait for weeks or even months. None of the suppliers around here actually stock material – they just have sample and proceed to procure it from Dubai, Europe or China.”

“So the supply of materials is our absolute worst nightmare, because you can’t make a call and receive an order within 24 hours – it doesn’t happen that way, and you can’t rely on it.”

Mohamed Moataz AlKhayat, CEO of Palmera, says: “We are talking with agencies about various materials – for example with global manufacturers of irrigation and waterproofing. So we don’t want to be in the contracting business alone, but in both contracting and supply.”

Amer Mahasen, adds: “We intend to make it a matter of fact that, if you want to be an agent or a supplier, then you better have stock in Qatar.

The scope of Palmera’s planned supply ranges across all the different activities of landscaping: both softscaping, from trees, shrubs and flower seeds to fertilizers, and organic chemicals; and hardscaping, from tiles and stone slabs to outdoor furnishings, irrigation and lighting.

Ramez AlKhayat, MD of UCC, adds: “There will be a whole range of companies that we can get to supply us with playground equipment, ceramic surfaces, and not just wood but synthetic resin components, and we also have a sister company, Credo, that will provide us with lighting.”

Palmera will soon unveil its 50-hectare nursery, which will be home to over 10 million plants by January 2014. Aamer Mahasen details: “Each one of our competitors has their own nursery, but ours, which should be complete by the end of the summer, will be a force to be reckoned with.