São Paulo – Five boats by FS Yachts, a Brazilian company from the state of Santa Catarina, arrived in the United Arab Emirates in the beginning of this month. The company has made their first transaction with the Arab country and is already negotiating another sale, this time 36 boats, according to the commercial director Renato Asse. “We had very good approval, due to our sophistication,” says Asse – who is a Syrian descendant – about boats manufactured by FS Yachts.
The shipyard is located in the city of Biguaçu, near Florianópolis, and produces 44 boats per month, two every working day. The smallest boats are 18 feet long and cost around US$ 25,000. They can carry seven people and are suited for day-trips and water sports. Bigger boats have a 1.9 meter ceiling-height bedroom, two double beds, bathroom, fridge, air conditioning, among other luxuries. Thus, they can be anchored for passengers to sleep over. They cost around US$ 180,000.
According to Asse, the Emirates came as a surprise for the company, who turned to the foreign markets only in 2014. A professional from Santa Catarina who looks for products for the Arab country sought FS Yachts. The boats’ hulls were sent to a company in the Emirates, which inserted engines and accessories later to resell them. Accessories such as air conditioning, GPS, sound system, grill, are usually customized to fit clients’ tastes.
FS Yachts plans to invest heavily on exports in the next months and years, but they are still not sure how important the Arab market will be for sales. “We do not have a history with them, we do not know if business will continue,” said Asse. The commercial director, however, believes in the potential of Middle Eastern market and also of FS Yachts as an exporter. “We are the second largest shipyard in Latin America,” says Asse, adding that the Emirates’ market is very wealthy but also very new and therefore has a good demand for the product.
Besides the sale to the Emirates, the company from Santa Catarina is also in talks to export to Denmark. And they are also seeking market in traditional boat-buying countries such as Greece, Slovenia and Sweden. The company’s goal is to make export, which is just starting, accounting for 25% of the production by the year 2017. The commercial director says that in Brazil there is not a “boat-culture”, of owing a boat, while in other regions in the world, such as the United States and Europe, people already build their houses with garages that fit cars and a boat.
The FS Yachts came from the purchase of Rio Grande do Sul’s shipyard FS Boat, in the city of Vera Cruz. In 2011, the company was bought out by businessman Almiro de Souza Neto and changed into FS Yachts. Headquarters moved to Santa Catarina, the company was completely restructured, mainly in the commercial area, and started investing in exports.
FS Yachts
Phone: (+5548) 3279 7333
Email: fsyachts@fsyachts.com.br
Website: http://www.fsyachts.com.br (Partially in English)
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
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