Arabia Essen Welding and Cutting show to focus on UAE steel tube sector which is growing at 17% annually

Organised by Messe Essen, Messe Dusseldorf and Al Fajer Information & Services, the show is being held for the first time in the Middle East.

According to Asad ullah Mohammed, General Manager OKI Bering Middle East, the UAE steel tube industry will witness an annual growth of 17% until 2015, driven largely by the oil & gas industry.

Mohammed added: "The Oil and gas industry is the fastest growing sector in the Middle East where welding, tube and pipe segment is the second industrial largest, and is considered to be the preferred means of promoting diversification and sustained economic development in the region."

Mohammed added: "We are exciting about participating at the first edition of the Essen Welding & Cutting show in Dubai. We strongly believe this show will offer us an opportunity to showcase our product range and thus boost our business in the GCC region."

OKI Bering is one of the 100 largest privately owned companies in Greater Cincinnati in USA, with annual revenue of about $150 million, offering 80,000 manufacturer-branded and private label products. The company sells to more than 9,000 independent distributors across multiple channels through nine distribution centres across the U.S. OKI Bering recently acquired by United Stationers Supply Co. United Stationers (Nasdaq: USTR) is a wholesale distributor of business products, with 2011 net sales of $5 billion. The company stocks about 100,000 items on a national basis, including technology products, traditional office supplies, janitorial and break room supplies, office furniture and industrial supplies.

"This new show provides a regional platform for wholesale industrial products," said Satish Khanna, General Manager, Al Fajer Information & Services.

"We are delighted by the response to the show which has attracted significant industrial companies from all over the globe in its inaugural edition."

Khanna stressed that the welding show will leverage on the leading position of the Tekno and Tube shows which have established themselves as international events for industrial machinery, metal working, machine tools, tubes and pipes. The three shows will offer an ideal platform for companies to gain inroads in the booming Middle East market.

Exhibitors in Arabia Essen Welding & Cutting will include manufacturers of welding equipment, consumables and accessories as well as traders of fume extraction devices, pool monitoring systems, seam measurement and evaluation devices, automated for lattice work girders, bugles, converters and generators, filter installations, fittings, installations, welding machines, power drying furnaces, welding robots, seam identification systems, welding tables, torches, tractors, wire de-reelers and cutting and soldering technologies and solutions.

Mohammed added: "Since 1937, OKI Bering has been offering a variety of high quality products from over 100 of the top manufacturers in the industry. We focus on continuous improvement by regularly evaluating our performance and methods, and incorporating the latest technology to communicate with our customers."

Tekno and Tube Arabia 2012 have emerged as the largest and most important regional industry exhibitions and adding welding to these two vibrant industries offers an integrated solution to the rapidly growing needs of the industry. These three shows are considered the key gateway to the extremely important Gulf and Middle East markets by overseas exhibitors.