Spotlight the Site: Stahl Pakistan 

Did you know that Stahl’s specialty coatings and treatments are produced in 17 manufacturing sites worldwide? In this article, our site manager at our Pakistan location reflects on their work, team culture and how they contribute to Stahl’s purpose.

Can you tell us where your site is located and what it specialises in? 
Our head office in Pakistan is located in the Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) in Karachi, which is the largest city and industrial heart of Pakistan. We have three branches in the northern part of the country: one in Lahore, one in Kasur and one in Sialkot. Our main business in Pakistan is the trading and indenting of leather finishes and wet-end chemicals, as well as performance coatings. 

How does the work done at your site contribute to Stahl’s overall operations and objectives? 
In Pakistan, we sell Stahl products to local customers, as well as importing goods for onward sale (known as ‘ex-stock business’) and acting as an indentor for our related parties. We see ourselves as ambassadors for Stahl on a global level, promoting its products to penetrate the local market. With our safe, sustainable and durable products, we can improve people’s lives and help society to move forward. 

Time for some figures. How many Stahl colleagues work at your site? When did Stahl open the site? Any fun facts? 
Stahl Pakistan was incorporated on 30 March 2007, and we moved to our current Karachi headquarters in September 2023. As of 31 December 2023, there were 31 FTEs working at Stahl in Pakistan. There are 18 of us in Karachi, 8 in Lahore, 3 in Kasur and 2 in Sialkot. We have a local page for Stahl Pakistan on MyStahl.com if you’d like to learn more fun facts! 

What are the strengths of your site’s culture and atmosphere? What do you do to develop team spirit and a sense of community across the site? What holidays do you celebrate with the whole site/location? 
I’m proud of the strong bond between Stahl Pakistan colleagues. They demonstrate excellent teamwork: everyone is always on stand-by to support each other. We stay up to date with each other via our quarterly company update meetings, chaired by the country’s general manager. 

Together, we celebrate major holidays like Independence Day and Eid al-fitr, which is a feast day in Islam that marks the end of the Ramadan fast. We also celebrate each other’s birthdays and participate in blood drives as part of our commitment to society. 

When we moved to our new site in Karachi, we held an inauguration event that was attended by global and regional team members, Andrea Ceretta and Husnucan Sayim, as well as colleagues from our local offices. During the event we officially inaugurated the site and hosted a team dinner, marking the beginning of a new chapter at our site. We also hosted meetings with our distributors plan our collaboration for future success. Overall, the occasion of our new site reinforced our commitment to growth and expansion while strengthening ties with the team and our partners. 

In 2023, Stahl launched its new purpose, Touching lives, for a better world. How does your site demonstrate the purpose in its work and culture? 
Our goal is to make a positive and lasting impact on society. We prioritise sustainable and responsible practices by ensuring that our products do not harm people or the environment.  

We strongly believe that touching lives begins internally with our employees. We strive to create a positive and healthy work culture that fosters employee well-being, growth, and development. We host quarterly and annual meetings to stay up to date, SHE training to promote safe practices, and provide a confidential platform for colleagues to share their views. Furthermore, we increased our gender diversity in 2023 with the addition of three new female colleagues. 

Keep up the great work, team! We hope you enjoyed these insights into Stahl Pakistan as much as we did. Our global presence enables us to provide local service, staying up to date with developments in your market region and segment.