Gulf textile manufacturers head for major growth

A subsidiary of Swiss-based engineering and machine manufacturing company Saurer, which has an annual turnover of €1.6 billion, Neumag has witnessed demand for non-wovens machinery in the Gulf region increase at an annual rate of up to eight per cent.

"Due to the strong demand for non-woven products, many local manufacturers are interested increasing their output," said Jens Hinz, Executive Manager, Neumag, among the leading exhibitors at this week's Textile Expo Dubai, a major new showcase event for the booming textile industry.

"The availability of skilled labour and the relatively low cost of raw materials such as oil, give Dubai a competitive edge in this lucrative sector and we're seeing a growing number of foreign investors interested in setting up shop here," he said.

"Based on all this, we expect the UAE to become a very important market for us and we have estimated that this market will represent a good share of machinery to be sold in the UAE and the rest of the Gulf in the next few years."

For the UAE and the rest of the region a double-digit growth in the production of non-woven materials is expected, while global growth rates are currently between four and eight per cent. A large part of demand in the Gulf is generated by the region's booming construction industry through the placement of orders for construction supporting materials.

At present, local demand for non-woven materials is being satisfied by imports from Europe and the United States but the situation is likely to change by the end of 2006. By increasing textile machinery investment levels, UAE producers could see production levels reaching 35,000 tonnes per year.

Barmag and Neumag are among more than 120 leading textile machinery manufacturers exhibiting at Textile Expo Dubai which runs until Wednesday at Airport Expo Dubai. The event is expected to attract a substantial number of trade visitors from major textile producing countries such as India, Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt.

Textile Expo Dubai is organised by Streamline Marketing in collaboration with UK-based, XPO Events/Turret Group and the event has also made it possible for exhibitors and industry associations to have pre-arranged meetings with each other.

Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, U.A.E. Minister of Finance & Industry and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Textile Expo Dubai is officially supported by Temsad (Turkish Machinery Association), Kotma (Korean Textile Machinery Association), CTMA (Chinese Textile Machinery Association) and ITAMMA (Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery Manufacturers Association).