DUBAI: RAK Ceramics, one of the world’s largest tile makers, reported a jump in Saudi sales as it benefited from anti-dumping measures on imports from China and India in the Kingdom.
The company’s wider business surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter, as it recorded its strongest start to a year since 2016.
“Looking ahead for the remainder of 2021, our priority will be to invest in brand equity, grow our business in Saudi Arabia and protect our market share in the UAE and Bangladesh,” said CEO Abdallah Massaad.
Net profit rose to 60.6 million dirhams compared to 25.7 million dirhams in the year earlier period.
Total gross profit margin also reached an all-time high of 35 percent driven by an increase in revenue, an improvement in efficiencies and the optimization of production lines. Total revenues were also at a five-year high, rising almost 22 percent to reach 722.8 million dirhams.
Revenue growth was strongest in Saudi Arabia where sales jumped by 78.5 percent, followed by India with sales growth of 67 percent.
“In Saudi Arabia, the Company’s strategy continues to yield results,” the company said in a statement. “The imposition of anti-dumping duties on tiles from India and China in the Kingdom initially led to an increase in demand for RAK Ceramics’ products. Capitalizing on this demand, the company invested in differentiated tiles and new showrooms, developing significant brand equity in the market,” it said.
In the UAE, despite the impact of COVID-19, workforce was not reduced, and production reached the highest level in five years due to increased demand from Saudi Arabia, it said.
RAK Ceramics Saudi business booms on anti-dumping move
https://arab.news/c88gv
RAK Ceramics Saudi business booms on anti-dumping move
- Net profit rose to 60.6 million dirhams compared to 25.7 million dirhams in the year earlier period
Multilateralism strained, but global cooperation adapting: WEF report
DUBAI: Overall levels of international cooperation have held steady in recent years, with smaller and more innovative partnerships emerging, often at regional and cross-regional levels, according to a World Economic Forum report.
The third edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer was launched on Thursday, ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 19 to 23.
“The takeaway of the Global Cooperation Barometer is that while multilateralism is under real strain, cooperation is not ending, it is adapting,” Ariel Kastner, head of geopolitical agenda and communications at WEF, told Arab News.
Developed alongside McKinsey & Company, the report uses 41 metrics to track global cooperation in five areas: Trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
The pace of cooperation differs across sectors, with peace and security seeing the largest decline. Cooperation weakened across every tracked metric as conflicts intensified, military spending rose and multilateral mechanisms struggled to contain crises.
By contrast, climate and nature, alongside innovation and technology, recorded the strongest increases.
Rising finance flows and global supply chains supported record deployment of clean technologies, even as progress remained insufficient to meet global targets.
Despite tighter controls, cross-border data flows, IT services and digital connectivity continued to expand, underscoring the resilience of technology cooperation amid increasing restrictions.
The report found that collaboration in critical technologies is increasingly being channeled through smaller, aligned groupings rather than broad multilateral frameworks.
This reflects a broader shift, Kastner said, highlighting the trend toward “pragmatic forms of collaboration — at the regional level or among smaller groups of countries — that advance both shared priorities and national interests.”
“In the Gulf, for example, partnerships and investments with Asia, Europe and Africa in areas such as energy, technology and infrastructure, illustrate how focused collaboration can deliver results despite broader, global headwinds,” he said.
Meanwhile, health and wellness and trade and capital remained flat.
Health outcomes have so far held up following the pandemic, but sharp declines in development assistance are placing growing strain on lower- and middle-income countries.
In trade, cooperation remained above pre-pandemic levels, with goods volumes continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace than the global economy, while services and selected capital flows showed stronger momentum.
The report also highlights the growing role of smaller, trade-dependent economies in sustaining global cooperation through initiatives such as the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, launched in September 2025 by the UAE, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
Looking ahead, maintaining open channels of communication will be critical, Kastner said.
“Crucially, the building block of cooperation in today’s more uncertain era is dialogue — parties can only identify areas of common ground by speaking with one another.”
