Ducab, a leading manufacturer of high-quality power cables and wires in the Middle East, is set to convert its conventional metals hedging practices into Islamic structures.

The initiative, taken under the guidance from its board, supports growth within the global Islamic finance industry, said a statement.

Andrew Shaw, managing director of Ducab, said: “Ducab is delighted to enter into this arrangement, particularly as we are the first regional cable manufacturing company to initiate metals hedging practices into Islamic structures. It is also gratifying to receive the support of respected financial institutions locally and internationally.

“Strengthening Islamic economic principals are an integral part of our overall approach to growth and development, we will further continue to explore such ideas in other parts of our business. We hope that risk management practices globally in the metals industry will adopt these practices in the coming months.”

The objective of this initiative is to persuade global metal exchanges to adopt the product as one of the standard traded offerings, he added.

This opportunity was placed under the spotlight at the Global Islamic Economy Summit, that concluded today (November 26) in Dubai and promoted the sharia-compliant hedging to other major companies in the Mena region.

Arif Choksy, CFO, said: “Ducab actively started using the sharia-compliant metals hedging product since early 2013, for its major line of businesses and has successfully converted 70 per cent of its existing hedging portfolio into sharia-compliant structures with a dedicated back office involvement to manage the ongoing process.” - TradeArabia News Service