Local brick manufacturer Mirpur Ceramic Works Ltd (MCWL), which has been exporting the building material to Singapore for over a decade, is getting ready to inscribe its footprint on Middle East markets.

At present the company exports 80,000 to 100,000 pieces of different types of bricks every month, officials said. The cost of each container of bricks having 20,000 pieces hovers around $1,500.

"We mainly export plain hollow and bullnose bricks to Singapore that are used there in road and footpath decoration," said Mohammad Emran, manager (Marketing and Sales) of MCWL.

Bullnose is a decorative brick used in landscape design works and walkway edges.

The company was awarded national export trophy (bronze) for 1996-97 for exporting such a non-traditional item.

"The real estate sector is experiencing a boom in the ME countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia where there is a huge prospect for our bricks," said Emran.

As the Gulf states do not have enough clay to make brick to meet their needs, they import it from such countries as India, Sri Lanka and China.

"Now we are receiving export queries from the ME countries and also from the United Kingdom," he said.

He said the roof tiles made by Khadim Ceramics Limited (KCL), a concern of MCWL, have recently drawn attention of ME countries.

The roof tiles produced by the company are burnt in 1,200 degrees Celsius and coated with silicon that give the item greater durability compared to the traditionally made roof tiles in the country.

"People in the Middle East need roof tiles to keep their houses cool from the sun's heat and we hope to export around four containers of roof tiles within a very short time as negotiation in this regard is going on," said Emran.

He said the company could have started exporting roof tiles to the Gulf countries much earlier, but it was not possible due to high freight charges.

"We have taken different measures to cut production costs and become successful in some areas," he said.

He also sought cash incentive facility against brick export to make local bricks competitive in export market.

Sakif Ariff Tabani, director (Marketing and Administration) of MCWL, said their products have potential in Japan also. But the high freight charge is barring exports.

The combined daily production of MCWL and KCL ranges from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh pieces of bricks that include facing bricks, reinforced bricks, bullnose, three-hole bricks, roof tiles and paving bricks.

kawsar@thedailystar.net