17 Jul PLASTICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The BPF reflects on its participation in ‘Arabplast’
With a booming construction industry and a ready supply of oil, the plastics industry in the UAE is growing at a remarkable rate. The British Plastics Federation (BPF) with the support of UK Trade and Investment co-ordinated British participation at Arabplast 2007 (January 13th – 16th 2007) which takes place bi-annually in Dubai. Currently in it’s 8th year, the show has grown rapidly and with 12,843 registered trade visitors coming within the first 3 days, the show was well on course to reach their target of 15,000 visitors for the 4 day show.
Arabplast is the only plastics trade fair in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is fast becoming one of the leading trade shows for the region. Arabplast 2007 attracted over 550 exhibitors (up from 326 at the previous show) from 36 countries. National pavilions featured from India, China, Austria, Morocco, Egypt, Cyprus, Taiwan and the UK. In terms of participation, India provided the most exhibitors (98) followed by Germany (62), China (59), Taiwan (52) and Italy (49). The UK fielded 23 participant companies and the UAE itself 53 exhibitors. At the show there were a large number of visitors from Iran which represents one of the largest markets in the region, with a population of 70 million and around 6,000 plastics companies.
The general reception for British Companies at the show was very strong with the BPF’s Philip Law and Stephen Hunt welcoming Sheikh Hasher Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Director of Dubai’s Information Department, to the BPF stand on the opening day of the show.
According to Al Fajer (the organizers of the Arabplast show) the Gulf Cooperation Council (comprised of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman) is made up of some 7,500 plastics companies. Of these countries, Saudia Arabia makes up the lion’s share with 51% of the plastics industry (by turnover) with the UAE making up 33%. Within Dubai (the largest of the 7 Emirates which make up the UAE) there are 375 plastics companies.These constitute around 40% of the plastics businesses found in the UAE. Whilst Dubai houses most of the UAE’s plastics industry, followed by Sharjah and Ajman, Abu Dhabi owns the largest share of oil (95%) and gas (92%) reserves.
Despite a strong petrochemical industry – there are 260 petrochemical product manufacturing companies in Dubai – there is still a considerable reliance on imported polymer, the top import sources being Europe, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Brazil. Currently the UAE imports around 60% of its plastics raw material.
The plastics market in the UAE is growing at a rate of around 20% year on year with imports of plastics parts increasing steadily. BPF’s Stephen Hunt said that the Middle East’s need to add value to its vast and unused gas reserves is encouraging the development of a significant plastics processing industry and UK firms should take heed of this.
The plastics product market in the Emirates is heavily dominated by pipes production, accounting for 48% of plastics products manufacturing.This is followed by GRP products (20%) and packaging (18%). This was reflected at the Arabplast show with a large number of visitors to the BPF stand enquiring about UK plastics pipes companies and expertise. MSA Engineering who provide electrofusion technology for the pipe industry had a particularly strong show and was much in demand.
Gary Jones, Chairman, MSA Engineering commented ‘we received a large number of actionable enquiries during the show, a number requesting a visit to our UK plant for a demonstration. The largest number of enquiries have come from Iran, followed by Saudi Arabia, both of which offer huge potential for us.’
The general feeling amongst the British Group of exhibitors was overwhelmingly positive, Les Rose, Managing Director, Impact Laboratories said ‘the Middle East is a rapidly growing area and offers an excellent opportunity for British Companies in the plastics industry. People here are very keen to acquire western knowledge. The level of investment and quality of products and services will play a large part in helping growth regionally and internationally. So far we have encountered strong opportunities which we are confident of developing further.’
Paul Jensen, Managing Director of Jenco Controls, commented ‘There is certainly a very high quality and level of visitors to the stand .This is encouraging us to develop existing sales to the UAE. We have taken two firm orders from two local companies and we are hopeful of several more. We also confirmed an order from a moulding company in Nairobi for blending and materials conveying systems’.
Following on from the great success UK companies achieved at Arabplast 2007 the BPF are already looking at participating at the next show which will take place in January 2009.