World's biggest plastics fair 'K' Show hails the growth of Arabplast and Dubai's role in plastics production

Global figures show that between 1950 and 2011, plastics producers upped the global raw material production from 1.5 million tons to about 280 million tons, which translates into an average annual growth rate of about 9%. Organisers of K are optimistic that this growth will continue its upward spiral.

Plastic products constituted one-tenth of total manufacturing in the GCC in 2012, and included bottles and containers, pipes and fittings, bags, doors and windows, caps and lids, foils and utensils.

According to a Dubai Export Development Corporation report, Dubai has 90 plastics factories which produce annually Dhs1.3bn of plastic products, of which products worth Dhs976m are exported.

The second day of the show attracted keen interest in K 2013 from UAE-based and GCC plastics companies. It also highlighted the booming UAE plastics industry due to many positive factors, including low cost of freight and availability of raw materials from the GCC.

Ulrich Reifenhauser, Chairman of the K 2013 Exhibitors' Council, said: "K in Düsseldorf is famed for its innovations - no other trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry can offer such a huge and diversified spectrum of ideas and products."

At K 2013, which will be held from 16 to 23 October, about 3,000 companies from all over the world will introduce the trade public to their offerings in the fields of machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industry, raw materials and auxiliaries, and semi-finished products, technical parts and reinforced plastics.

Erhard Wienkamp, Division Director, Messe Dusseldorf GmbH commented: "The manufacturers of plastics and rubber products as well as their industrial end users will be able to witness the pinnacle of developments in machine, process and materials technology at K 2013. More than 200,000 trade visitors from all continents will be keen to seize this opportunity."

Satish Khanna, General Manager of Al Fajer Information & Services, the regional partner of Messe Dusseldorf, underscored the significance of the plastics sector in the Gulf.

Khanna added: "K 2013 Dusseldorf is the world's most important contact forum, not just for the entire plastics and rubber industry, but also for visitors from the major user segments. No other trade fair offers such opportunities for experts in the automotive, packaging, electrical engineering, electronics and communications industries, the construction sector, medical technology and aerospace to learn about the latest plastics and rubber applications and experience the technical innovations of a dynamic sector."

Employment in plastics and rubber makes up 4% of the total employment in manufacturing in the Gulf, according to Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC).