Also in attendance and giving speeches were Gulzar Feroz, who is President of PTA South Zone (ES), Fawad Ejaz Khan, the Chairman of the Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and S Mohibullah Shah, CEO of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. As well as a speech from Huub van Beijeren, speeches from Stahl were given by Muhammad Anwar Iqbal, who has been appointed director of Stahl Pakistan and by Patrice Musset, business director of Stahl Europe bv.
The ceremony commenced with a recitation from the Holy Quran which was translated into English by S M Abdullah. At the end there were exchanges of souvenirs and the ribbon cutting ceremony was carried out by chief guest S Mohibulah Shah, together with Huub van Beijeren, Anwar Iqbal and Patrice Musset. Guests were then invited to tour the offices and laboratories, both decorated with an extensive display of leather, before being invited for lunch.
The new company represents an important step forward in sales and technical support for all Stahl products throughout Pakistan and will ensure a strong presence in the marketplace for future growth. Headed by director Anwar Iqbal, the company will market the full range of Stahl products for wet-end leather processing and dyeing, leather finishes and shoe finishes. Future developments for the business in Pakistan are already being planned
Stahl Pakistan are located in the central tannery zone in Karachi and also at Lahore. A 450 square yards (375 square metres) applications laboratory, and a similar sized office block and warehouse have been constructed on the 4,800 square yards (4015 square metres) site. The remaining area has been given over to a car park and a lush green landscaping to make the area as attractive as possible.
The fully equipped applications laboratory has been fitted out with modern leather finishing machinery including a roller coating machine, a hydraulic press, a roto press, a glazing machine, a dry drum, water wash and filtered spray booths, a drying chamber with toggling frame. A specialist spray booth and a polishing and mopping machine for have been installed working on shoes. Wet-end trials can be carried out and facilities for this include two experimental and two 40 kg wet-end drums imported from India. A range of equipment including a Veslic rub-fastness testing machine, a Balley flexometer and an adhesion testing machine have been installed to allow detailed and accurate physical testing of finishes for both leather and shoes. Recently a clicking press for cutting leather samples for use in presentations has also been installed.
The warehouse has been designed to have a storage capacity for 50 tonnes of wet-end, dyeing and finishing products with a separate area for storing solvent based products.
A highly knowledgeable and experience technical service is being provided by a team of fully qualified, and well trained technicians who look forward with enthusiasm for the future growth of SPPL.
Each centre is able to draw the more popular products from the duty-paid stock held in Karachi, thus ensuring speedy deliveries to meet the needs of this fast-moving market.
Stahl Pakistan’s head office address is Plot #73, Sector 7A, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi, Pakistan.
