Metal

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THE METAL GROUP: ROAD MAP TO A CORPORATE

1987

Metal debuted in the business world under the brand name Metal : in 1987. The Metal was founded in Dhaka with the aim of manufacturing bus and truck bodies. The company took out an exclusive dealership from Simpson & Company Ltd, Chennai, India. It used to import chassis of bus and truck and assemble the bodies here. As it did not prosper up to the level of early expectation and enthusiasm of the management, it was soon aborted.

1993 – The Metal (Pvt) Ltd.

Metal then turned their attention to the mechanization of agriculture which was then an ambitious dream. Bangladesh had just started to see, after its independence in 1971 small power tillers made in China to plow the lands in some different places. From mid-seventies of the last decade Power tillers and diesel engines grew in use in cultivation and irrigation gradually.  But Bangladesh had not seen use of any four wheel tractor in cultivation except limited use of four wheel tractors in the BARD project and a few tractors in the Tea Estates and Sugar Mills. BARD let the farmers use their tractors on rental basis, but the farmers never owned them. Sugar Mills and Tea Estates used theirs for haulage and never used them for cultivation of land for agricultural purposes.  The use of four wheel tractors for cultivation was a distant dream in a country where poorly clad farmers found themselves driving a bullock drawn wooden plough for generations. The two co-founders of The Metal, Eng. Aminul Islam and Eng. Sadid Jamil, came forward in this vital sector and set up a company, The Metal (Pvt) Ltd, in 1993 to take Bangladesh forward in the mechanization process.

2003 – Metal Agro Ltd.

By the year 2003, Metal turned its attention to the production and marketing of improved seeds, a basic input in agriculture to ensure genetic and physical purity of crops. This led to the creation of a subsidiary company, Metal Agro Ltd, for research and production of seeds under their own management.

2005

Agriculture mechanization being the core of Metal business, it increasingly made efforts to familiarize the four wheel tractors with robust marketing policies and aggressive motivational thrusts at the grassroots level. In  2005 Eichar brand was added to its inventory of four wheel tractors which was a new brand of Tafe Motors & Tractors Ltd (TMTL), a sister concern of the Chennai based Tractor and Farm Equipment Company of India (TAFE).

2007 – Jamil Engineers Ltd.

Jamil Engineers was set up in 2007 at Bariali in Joydevpur on a 0.59 acre land. The facility here had a workshop that could now make small spare parts and small mechanized tools and equipment. Bangladesh by now had ample manpower in light engineering works and the factory built here could manufacture light equipment for mechanized agriculture along with spares.

2008 – Metal Plus Ltd.

The increased business activity necessitated the setting up of another company. Metal Plus Ltd was set up in 2008 to engage in Agriculture mechanization process further.  The Eichar tractor added to its repertoire, made marketing more intense and business drive more specialized and hence came up the question of establishing Metal Plus Ltd to exclusively deal with the expanded area of business drive. However, in 2005 Metal obtained exclusive distributorship of this popular brand, Eichar Tractors, from its manufacturer, Tafe Motors & Tractors Ltd (TMTL), an allied concern of Tractor and Farm Equipment Company of India (TAFE).

2012

In 2012 Metal set up a second seed research and production company, Metal Seeds Ltd to expand its seed research and production capabilities.

A new company, Metal Parts Ltd, was set up, to concentrate on customer service. The Metal Corporate by now had vast clientele to provide a great deal of customer service with spares along with import and distribution of parts and accessories.

With sales recording a sharp rise, Metal had to review its own strength and weaknesses in its business policies and activities.  

2013

Metal established two companies, Metal Holdings Ltd and Cox’s Bazar Surf Club Ltd, stepping beyond, for the first time, its core area of business activity which is agriculture mechanization.

Both these areas of business interest were pursued in view of the growing demand for urban housing and resort facilities with recreation amenities for an increasing number of tourists, both local and foreign visitors.

2013 – Metal Holdings Ltd.

Established in 2013 Metal Holdings Ltd was to do real estate development initially in Dhaka City. It has developed apartment buildings at Pallabi, Mirpur, Gulshan and Baridhara and has handed   them over to the owners. Two other projects are under way at Pallabi and Mirpur.

2013 – Cox’s Bazar Surf Club Ltd.

Cox’s Bazar Surf Club Ltd is a sea sport facility that is housed by the resort that stands on the Sugandha beach in Cox’s Bazar. It stands on 2 bighas of land (0.6612 acres) and has a 120 feet long double storied building overseeing the sea front. The resort has 8 fully furnished rooms with a restaurant on the ground floor with sprawling space for socializing. The big open field behind within the boundary walls makes it a secluded place for playing with children and other amusements. The resort overlooks the surf side and is just a few steps away from the facility. Mr. Tim Steal, the first manager of the club organized and furnished the club with a real sense of gusto.

2016 – Metal Parts Ltd. 

A new company, Metal Parts Ltd, was set up, to concentrate on customer service. The Metal Corporate by now had vast clientele to provide a great deal of customer service with spares along with import and distribution of parts and accessories.

2016 – Metal Biotech Nursery .

With the   rise of a thriving middle class from the late eighties, floriculture became a hotspot for commercial agriculture in suburban Dhaka and the southwestern districts of Bangladesh. But the variety of flowers was limited to a few numbers and the shelf life of locally produced flowers was pitiably short. Finding this a promising area of business Metal founded Metal Biotech Nursery in 2016.

2016 – Metal Agritech Ltd.

Once the agriculture mechanization business was firmly in place, with the farmers, agri extension offices, the government and local service providers all coming together, Metal concentrated in other areas of agri mechanization like planting, seedling, reaping and harvesting. Metal founded a new company, Metal Agritech Ltd, to take forward these areas of agri mechanization.

2019 – Metal Farmtech Ltd.

To boost its core business, Metal established yet another company, Metal Farmtech Ltd which became another arm in the agriculture mechanization process.

Metal Farmtech Ltd was founded in 2019, the latest member in the Corporate, to vamp up the mechanization process in Bangladesh agriculture.

2019 – Metal Motors Ltd.

Yet another company, Metal Motors Ltd, was founded and it was its first crack in the automotive business. Metal Motors Ltd was set up in 2019 to spearhead the business

Metal Motors Ltd. became an exclusive distributor of Forland brand light Tractors for Bangladesh and signed an agreement with Changsha-Foton Vehicle Technology Company Ltd in this regard. Forland Tractors have 6 models Metal Motors Ltd has in its product list.

Metal Motors Ltd has become an exclusive distributor of Atul brand three-wheelers for Bangladesh. The Atul Auto Ltd of India has made Metal Motors Ltd an exclusive dealer for Bangladesh. Atul three-wheelers have 3 models now in its product list.

Metal’s business efforts spurred by sincerity and honesty have borne expected fruit. Metal today is synonymous with agriculture mechanization in Bangladesh. It also the home of genetically healthy and pure seeds of all kinds of rice, vegetables, potatoes, flowers, maize coming to bear on the quality of life and livelihood of rural farmers in Bangladesh.

The establishment of the new company, The Metal (Pvt) Ltd, was a ground breaking decision. Metal now abandoned its chassis import and body manufacturing business and turned its gaze to a largely unchartered area where the consumer at the grass-roots level, had neither the means nor the motivation to use mechanized tools for agriculture. The banks and financial institutions were not yet ready to extend loans to farmers without guarantors. So the Company had to struggle to prove that it was not a wild dream, but an attainable goal within the grasp of the consumer, the intermediary financial bodies and the supplier. The company was determined to prove that Bangladesh can undergo this transformation tilling land with imported machines like four-wheel Tractors, planting seeds through seeders, reaping, cleaning, binding through combine harvesters, reapers, etc.

The Metal (Pvt) Ltd struck a deal with Tractor and Farm Equipment Company (TAFE), a  Chennai based Tractor manufacturer in India,  in 1993 and became exclusive distributor of its four-wheel tractors, TAFE, in Bangladesh that has remained in place ever since. The importer-supplier model of tractors is core to the The Metal’s activities today.

Though the Company sold only 5 TAFE tractors in the first year, it was not deterred by this poor response as it was not unexpected. The Company understood the financial constraints of the farmers and tried to address this problem. The Metal (Pvt) Ltd introduced leasing arrangements with farmer customers directly and worked with the emergence of Local Service Providers. This enabled farmers with limited income to access the equipment and generate the income needed to pay for the use of tractors. Under the new arrangement farmers could now own the TAFE tractors with a down payment and comfortable EMIs spread over 3 to 4 years. The farmers could till their lands with the tractors and also earn some extra money during the off season hauling goods from one place to another.

The Metal, however, was able to expand sales of tractors as well as other agricultural machinery. As of 2020, The Metal has now sold over a total of 50,000 tractors and 10,000 other agricultural machines.

The Metal (Pvt) Ltd was the first to use rotary blades in their TAFE tractors in place of cultivators. This helped in the preparation of agricultural land by turning it over and cutting furrows for finally sowing seeds or planting saplings. This was a pioneering feat and the use of rotary blades proved more effective than the cultivators. By now the Company was on its own feet negotiating freely between the Manufacturer and the consumers. In 1993 it made a deal with Italy’s famous rotavator company, Maschio Rotavator (rotary tillers) for distribution of their products in Bangladesh.

Metal Agro Ltd was exclusively meant for production and research of hybrid seeds. With this end in view the Metal purchased 100 bighas (roughly 31.99 acres) of land in Debiganj of Panchagarh district in northern Bangladesh. Here they set up a state-of-the-art R&D unit of Metal agro Ltd for seed research. It was deemed important because more capital investment by the farmers demanded more returns. The use improved seeds by the farmers ensured a surplus over their investment and expenditure leading to growing demand on the industrial sector which led to the healthy growth of the economy as a whole. Indeed this was deemed so important that the Company set up another seed research unit at Salna, Gazipur on a 14 bigha plot (4.5 acres) of land.

2010

Having secured a firm foothold in their dealings in mechanized agriculture tools and equipment, Metal now could think of diversifying its business in allied fields. In the telecom sector Bangladesh saw in the Nineties a rapid and rising demand of mobile phones which led to the establishment of companies like City Cell and Grameen Phone. The mobile network towers needed uninterrupted power supply and here Metal Plus Ltd found a niche for branching out into the power sector with a separate division under it called the Power Support Division.

The demand for uninterrupted power supply to cope with acute power outage problem, spurred Metal Plus Ltd to establish a separate division named Power Support Division. It was under an entirely separate management with separate accounts and management reporting. It was timely intervention by Metal, because by the year 2010 Grameen alone had over 30000 mobile network towers across the country.

With the merger of Robi and Airtel, the number of towers rose further and The Power Support Division manages today uninterrupted power supply for over 10700 network towers of both Grameen and Robi.

With sales recording a sharp rise, Metal had to review its own strength and weaknesses in its business policies and activities. This led to the establishment of The Metal Parts Ltd in 2016, a subsidiary, to engage in agriculture mechanization process more intensively and to deal in agriculture mechanization tools and and equipment to cope with spares and after-sale service. Metal Parts Ltd, was also founded to provide customer service to a huge clientele and it was not understandably an easy task. This company was to oversee all imports and distribution of spare parts and accessories.

Metal Biotech Nursery was set up for research and production of flower seeds, bulbs, cut flowers, orchid items and creation of varieties in flowers. This opened up a new horizon in floriculture as it encouraged the entrepreneurs to engage in flower export and to probe deeper in the possibilities of the local market. Flower businesses could now have flowers for a longer shelf life which in turn created a larger consumer interest in buying flowers. Metal Biotech made available to the flower farmers seeds of different flowers of different colors and shades and flowers of longer shelf-life to exporters of flowers.

Metal Agritech Ltd was founded to step up other areas of agri mechanization besides cultivation with tractors. Metal imported mechanized planters, seeders and farmers now could access a mechanized planter or seeder to do planting of saplings or scatter seeds in their cultivated lands. A mechanized harvester too was found very handy and commercially viable. Metal Agritech Ltd became an exclusive distributor of F M World Combine harvester of China in Bangladesh in 2017.

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