The Middle East is set to emerge as the world’s largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals and plastics in 2005 – a striking trend that will be confirmed at the forthcoming ArabPlast 2005 – the Middle East’s premier trade show for rubber plastics and plastic packaging, set to commence on March 20 and will go on until March 23, 2005, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre (DIEC).
The production of plastics in the Middle East is estimated to be growing faster than any other region in the world, with exports expected to cross 40 million tonnes by the end of 2005. The seventh edition of ArabPlast 2005 will discuss opportunities and challenges and focus on strategies for this dynamic and growing market.
Highlighting the significance of ArabPlast 2005 to the global plastic industry, Mr. Satish Khanna, General Manager, Al Fajer Information & Services, organisers of the show, said: “The petrochemical and downstream plastics industry in the Middle East has grown substantially over the past few years, encouraged by its close proximity to competitive feedstock, which gives it an edge over other regions. The abundance of natural gas as feedstock in the Middle East, combined with its world-class export infrastructure and logistics, makes it the best choice for investments in the sector.”
“The region holds tremendous growth potential and is thus gaining considerable global interest. Technological advances and new trends are constantly altering the dynamics of this market. ArabPlast 2005 aims to address these issues and delve further into the prospects of this market,” he said at a press conference on the eve of the show.
The plastics industry in the Middle East is constantly evolving, given new initiatives and expansions of projects by regional governments, aimed at diversifying economies. The region, today, is the world’s largest exporter, offloading almost 80 per cent of its output to international markets. Additionally, huge volumes of imports are re-exported and distributed, Mr Khanna added.
Industry experts converging at ArabPlast 2005 will assess the demand for plastics, the consumption of which is rising due to increased usage by the consumer durable, engineering, construction and pharmaceutical industries. The plastics industry is claiming a major chunk of investments in the Middle East’s manufacturing sector, given its phenomenal growth in the region.
The show will see experts, analysts and top executives of leading global petrochemical giants converging at DIEC. As a prelude to the show, a summit will be held at the DIEC and the summit will also be addressed by top officials of McKinsey, ExxonMobil Chemical Middle East, Africa and South Asia, among others.
Al Fajer has tied up with Germany’s leading exhibition organiser Messe Dusseldorf GmbH for ArabPlast 2005. The partnership has elevated the profile of the show in the global markets, particularly in Europe & North America.
Mr. Khanna said he expected the 2005 edition to post a healthy growth in business deals as compared to the previous show. The last edition of ArabPlast in 2003 had closed with deals worth US$271 million.
The exhibition will see the participation of leading manufacturers of raw materials including ExxonMobil, Qatar Petrochemicals, Astra Polymers, Clariant, Borougue, EnerPlastics, Reliance Petrochemicals and Iran Petrochemicals. Other big players include Reifenhauser, Krauss Mafeii, Battenfeld Injection and Kampf of Germany, Piovani, Beilloni and Borghi of Italy and Cincinnati, Technoplast, Starlinger and Theyson of Austria.
Interestingly, the show, this year, feature China among its three new entrants, the other two being Spain and Malaysia. Around 450 companies are expected to take part from 40 countries, the leading groups include Germany, Italy, India, China, Korea, Turkey, Malaysia and Taiwan. The exhibition will comprise of 15 pavilions, covering a total of nearly 14,000 square metres. The country pavilions will include those of Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, India, Korea, Malaysia and Turkey, Cheque Republic and Taiwan.
Participants from the Middle East include SPT Middle East, Emirates National Plastics, Precision Dies, Unipack, Modern Plastics, United Motors and Oman Polypropylene amongst several others.
ArabPlast 2005 will showcase products and technologies of new entrants who wish to penetrate regional markets. It will also display the latest technology in injection moulding, blow moulding and plastic processing. Raw materials for plastics such as masterbatches, additives and polymers.
The display will cover a wide spectrum of plastic machinery, plastic/rubber processing technology, pre and post-processing systems, plastic packaging technology, injection moulding, blow moulding, wrapping technology, extrusions, chemicals and additives, semi finished goods, engineering plastics, plastic products and many more.
Country and industry associations such as the VDMA (Germany, Austria Economic Chamber (Austria), ANAIP (Spain), Assocomoplast (Italy), KPPMIC (Korea) and AIPMA (India) have extended their full cooperation to ArabPlast 2005.
