Steelfab boosts industry amidst crisis
01 March 2009
THE fifth edition of SteelFab exhibition provided a major boost to the regional steelworking industry amidst the global financial crisis. Held at Expo Centre Sharjah from January 19 to 22, the event attracted 213 exhibitors and 6,463 trade visitors.
“Though there have been no new major construction projects announced, the projects already under way are keeping the order books of the industry highly active and the overall trend is positive, a survey among the exhibitors and visitors has indicated,” says a spokesman for Expo Centre Sharjah, the organiser. “Steel fabrications are used across the infrastructure, oil and gas and construction industries, and this non-reliance on real estate projects has worked in favour of the show, the survey showed.”
The exhibitors represented more than 600 brands over a total exhibition area of 18,000 sq m, featuring the Middle East’s largest display of machinery, machine tools, welding equipment, supplies, consumables and ancillary equipment used in the pre- and post-treatment of steel. They included leading manufacturers from Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US.
Of the total visitor turnout, 4,857 came from the GCC , with the highest number of visitors being from Saudi Arabia (48 per cent), followed by Oman (19 per cent) and Qatar (13 per cent). Apart from the GCC, there were visitors from India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. A considerable increase was also recorded from Africa.
“The expanded product profile this time was a big draw for visitors. A first-time feature of the show, latest high-tech equipment like automatic beam welding lines, resistance welding machines and laser punching machines was highly popular throughout the show,” he says.
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