- Volume leader in rebar categories, largest recycler
Interview with Mr. Hadi Akberali — Chief Operating Officer, Amreli Steels
PAGE: Please elaborate on the journey of Amreli Steels since you joined the company?
Hadi Akberali: I joined Amreli Steels in 2006 when we were undergoing a major expansion to triple our capacity to 180,000 tons per year. We went through a rough patch when our expansion came online at the same time as the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 but the company and the family showed remarkable resilience to rise to the challenge.
From thereon, we knew we had to adopt a growth mentality which required embracing modern management principles, decentralizing authority and inducting specialists who could contribute to shaping our future. Today, Amreli Steels Limited is a public listed company that adheres to the highest levels of corporate governance and is run by a team of exceptional professionals who are not all part of the sponsor family.
I was present when our company embarked upon some if its greatest milestones such as the backward integration of our melt shop in Dhabeji in 2008, the initial public offering in 2015, rollout of SAP across the organization and the installation of our state-of-the-art rolling mill in 2018 to expand our capacity to 600,000 tons. Amreli Steels has been the largest selling brand of steel bars for the past few decades in Pakistan and we are proud to have the largest and most modern steel manufacturing facilities in Pakistan.
Looking back at these moments, I am extremely proud of where Amreli Steels is today. We are the undisputed volume leader in the rebar category of Pakistan. We broke record after record in sales last year. We are one of the most trusted names for architects, consultants, structural engineers and contractors across all building materials categories. And thanks to our brand building over the last 6 years, we have also become one of most recognizable brands in Pakistan. More importantly, Amreli Steels is playing an important role in society – we are one of Pakistan’s largest recyclers; we have started a shift towards reliance on green energy; we partner with various organizations to help provide education and medical services to the underserved parts of society.
However, with a young management team at the helm of Amreli Steels, I know the journey has just begun and we have many more milestones to achieve.
PAGE: The recent ad of Amreli Steels, celebrating 50 years, took over social media by storm. Who and how was the concept derived?
Hadi Akberali: Amreli Steels has been a part of people’s lives for 5 decades now by strengthening and protecting our homes on a daily basis. Our marketing team wanted this to be at the center of our thinking. However, we also realized that the way we live has changed over the past 5 decades. Our lives have become more insular and relations with neighbors have become more distant. Yet, if the foundations of a structure, society or relationship are strong – warmth, belonging and closeness can be rediscovered very easily.
After reviewing concepts from various agencies, we decided to take an unorthodox approach and gathered a team of diverse freelance individuals to work together to create the concept and script that spoke to our audiences and conveyed the message we wanted to send. This process took us 7 months!
PAGE: How much of a role did you play in the execution of this campaign?
Hadi Akberali: My role was primarily that of a motivator and challenger. I knew that for our 50 year celebration, we didn’t want a run-of-the-mill campaign that is emotionally devoid for the audience. I kept pushing the team to not settle for something short of spectacular and often played the devil’s advocate. The credit for the campaign rests solely with the marketing team who put in 7 months of relentless work to execute one of the best campaigns to date.
PAGE: Any particular moment or day that you will forever remember while executing this campaign?
Hadi Akberali: I am particularly proud of the kind of feedback we received on the campaign. I was cognizant that we were taking a risk by launching an ad that ran over 5 minutes but once the campaign landed we got constant feedback that despite its runtime people could not stop watching till the end. They were with us for the entirety of the copy duration. Seeing such remarks on our Facebook and YouTube was truly a proud moment for me.
PAGE: Coming across the 50 years mark, what visions have you set forth for the company ahead?
Hadi Akberali: We have set a target in our mission statement which is to achieve a sale of 1.5 million tons of rebar per annum. When and how we get there is dependent upon macroeconomic conditions and government policies. Countries that are global leaders in steel have managed to achieve their positions by implementing long term plans for supporting industries. The steel sector of Pakistan hasn’t had that level of support yet. Our per capita consumption of rebars is way below the global average.
Infrastructure development always provides the foundation for sustainable growth needed by developing countries like Pakistan. We know that the need and demand, both are there. What companies like Amreli Steels need are long-term roadmaps from the government which do not change with the volatile political environment of our country. We need minimum 10 years of stability in policies and regulations to realize our true potential. We also need implementation of standards and regularization that will elevate the quality of our industrial output. Our national demand for steel rebars, which is roughly about 4 million tons per annum is being fully met by local manufacturers. However, rebars made from obsolete technologies that do not comply to any standards are still being illegally produced and sold in our country, which hurts the consumers as well as the documented industry.
Amreli Steels has been the market leader in steel bars as well as one of the premier steel brands in the country for many decades. We hope to continue this leadership but also grow the company in different directions such as product diversification and entering the global market for exports. We understand the need to be globally competitive and aim to vertically integrate as much as possible to achieve this objective.