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Present at the inauguration ceremony were Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Mr. Mohammed Salem Al Mosharrekh - Board Member (SCCI), Mr. Saif Al Midfa, Director General of Expo Centre Sharjah, and officials of various government departments, and members of the diplomatic corps and trade associations.
This year's SteelFab is featuring over 280 brands and companies from 34 countries. Among the exhibitors at the show are over 60 machinery brands for steel forming and fabrication work and more than 85 brands of welding & cutting systems.
"Compared to the last edition, this year's SteelFab has witnessed a growth in both the number of exhibiting brands and companies as well as the occupied exhibition space,"
said Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa, Chairman of the SCCI, after the inauguration ceremony.
"The growth is a reflection of the boom that the Middle East steelworking industry is currently experiencing due to a variety of factors including the heightened construction activities in the region. There are no signs of any let up in the construction spend of either the public or the private sector in the near future. If at all, it will only grow. This, no doubt is a very positive trend for the Middle East steelworking industry. However, it also means that along with the growth, its needs would also get more demanding," he added.
Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa further said that SteelFab was the Middle East's only sourcing platform for the steelworking industry.
"With every edition, SteelFab has not only been growing in terms of the number of exhibitors but also the exhibit profile, in the process ensuring that it is always geared to meet the regional steelworking industry's growing demands," said Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa.
According to analysts, it is not just the steelworking industry but the entire steel production sector that is on a high. In fact, within the Middle East, the GCC region is well on its way to becoming an important iron and steel production centre. In 2005, the GCC States had invested USD $ 6.5 billion on the manufacturing of iron and steel products, according to a report by Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC). The demand for iron and steel products during this period stood at 15 million tones with a substantial share of it met through imports. The region's import of iron and steel products during 2005 totaled 14.3 million tones. It is estimated that the demand for steel from UAE alone stood at 3.5 million tones in 2006.
Currently, it is estimated that there are over USD $ 1 trillion worth of infrastructure projects in the pipeline in the region. It is therefore not surprising that the demand for iron and steel in the GCC region is expected to increase by 31% to 19.7 million tones by 2008.
Besides the GCC States, the rest of the Middle East too has been experiencing a significant increase in demand for construction materials, particularly steel.
According to Steelworld, a leading trade magazine in the Asian Iron & Steel sector, the total steel production from Jan 2006 to Nov 2006 in the Middle East was 13.5 million tonnes against a figure of 13.4 million tones during the same period the previous year. The world crude steel production for the year 2005 stood at 1129.4 million tones while for the period from Jan 2006 to Nov 2006 it was around 1111.8 million tonnes.
"The fact that the participating brands and companies at the current edition of SteelFab are from across the world including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, UK, and USA, points towards the growing global focus on the Middle East steelworking industry," said Mr. Saif Al Midfa, Director General of Expo Centre Sharjah.
"Despite the fact that demand for fabricated steel in the region is at an all time high due to massive industrial and infrastructure development, SteelFab continues to be the only trade platform for manufacturers and distributors of machine tools, welding machinery, consumables and other items related to the steel working business, and other organizations and companies involved in the steel fabrication industry in the Middle East,"
he added.
"SteelFab, while maintaining its exclusivity for the industry, will endeavour to expand its display profile with every edition to ensure that it remains the regional steelworking sector's one-stop sourcing platform. Focused conferences, products presentations, and forums will continue to be held alongside the exhibition to further expand its scope," said Mr. Saif Al Midfa.
An important highlight of SteelFab 2007 is the participation of 27 Italian companies under the umbrella of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE - the Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Robots, Automation Systems, and ancillary products (NC, tools, components, accessories). These companies are displaying a diverse range of products including welding sources, welding consumables, grinding, machines for steel forming, flexible sheet metal working, press brakes, shears, band saws, roll forming, plate & section bending, laser cutting, profile cutting, flanging, punch presses, and lathes.
The Italian companies are actively seeking to gain from Middle East's rising demand for Machine Tools, Robots, Automation systems and ancillary products industry. According industry estimates, the GCC imported USD $ 943.45 million worth of Special Industrialized Machines, Machine Tools with Removal of Materials, Machine Tools without Material Removal, Metal Machine Tools - Parts, and Metal Working Machinery, in 2005. UAE's share of this was over USD $ 500 million.
Besides the GCC states, Iran, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon in the Middle East are estimated to have imported USD $ 1,736.90 million worth of machine tools during this period.
Besides UCIMU, SteelFab has the support of MIB - the Association of Turkish Machinery Manufacturers.
A major attraction of the third edition of SteelFab is the two-day Gulf Iron and Steel Conference that is being held on the sidelines on Jan 29 and 30.
Organised by Steelworld, a leading trade magazine in the Asian Iron & Steel sector, the Conference will focus on a range of industry and region specific issues including opportunities and threats facing the industry, technology - enabler for cost competitiveness and growth, challenges ahead in steel Fabrication, prominent projects - problems and prospects, and steel trading - emerging markets and emerging applications.
Among those who are going to address the Conference are senior personnel from Arcelor-Mittal Steels, ETA - Steel Division, and Al Ghurair Group.
The Conference would also include presentations by Arab Iron & Steel Union, Gulf Organisation for Industrial Co-Operation, Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, ABB, Elecon Engineering, Thermex, SMS Demag, Al Sohar Steels, ETA - Steel Division, Shadeed Iron & Steel Co., Emirates Iron & Steel Factory, Al Ittefaq Steels, Al Ghurair Group, Arcelor-Mittal steel, United Gulf Steel Mills, Conares, Attieh Steels, Zamil Steels, and Stemcor.
SteelFab is expected to attract a large number of trade visitors, especially fabrication yard managers, production managers, procurement managers, estimators, planning and design engineers as visitors from across the globe, from the Middle East and North Africa region.
SteelFab is an initiative of Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of the SCCI. The exhibition is open to trade visitors only from 10 am to 7 pm daily.
Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
