Gulf Construction Online - Mideast focus at top trade show

Germany & the Middle East

Mideast focus at top trade show

01 March 2007

Germany’s ties with the Middle East’s construction industry are set to reach greater heights as the world’s biggest construction show gets under way in Munich next month.

For bauma, the world’s biggest trade fair on construction equipment and building material machinery, has chosen the Middle East as its partner region for this year’s event, which is scheduled to take place from April 23 to 29.
The move highlights the fact that German manufacturers of construction equipment and building material machinery are further focusing their sights on the Arabian Gulf.
According to the Construction Equipment and Building Material Machinery Association – the industry’s association which is part of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) – the export volume of the German manufacturers to the seven countries of the region increased by a total of 40 per cent to nearly €280 million ($364 million) from 2004 to 2005.
The lion’s share of this included machinery and equipment worth nearly 103 million euros, which were exported to the UAE and worth nearly 86 million euros to Saudi Arabia. This equals an increase of 25.7 per cent, 19.8 per cent, respectively, compared to 2004.
“With these figures, both countries are the most rapidly developing markets in construction of the region. In 2005, the biggest growth in import of German-made construction equipment and building material machinery was to be found in Qatar with an increase of 229 per cent and in Kuwait with a plus of 114 per cent, however, in both cases coming from a very low base. Germany together with Japan and the US are the three most important construction equipment and building material machinery supplier-countries to the region,” says a spokesman for the VDMA.
According to industry sources, exports to the Middle East are expected to have risen by 45 per cent last year compared 2005.
“German engineering is in such high demand as most clients believe it to be able to meet the particular challenging requirements of this construction boom in the region: where projects are being propelled forward on a fast-track basis,” he says.
Some of the German high-tech equipment used in the region include a TBM (tunnel boring machine) that excavates through sand, coral as well as limestone. This was one of 102 TBMs that Herrenknecht is currently using in the region for the Palm, Jumeirah. The machine bores 600 m-long tunnels which will be used as service pipelines. These bend slightly in order to connect one of the branches of the palm tree to the protective ring around the island. For the same project, concrete mixing plants and concrete pumps by Schwing/Stetter work day and night and with this ensure that concrete is there ‘non-stop’ ready to be used.
A world record in high-rise concrete conveying currently is held by the concrete pumps of Putzmeister that are used in the construction of Burj Dubai, which is designed to be the world’s tallest at more than 700 m high. At this project too, formwork concepts by Hünnebeck are used which are able to meet the special requirements on cycle times. In addition, tower cranes by Liebherr climb higher every three weeks.
“This is an enormous speed but it is the only way to ensure that a whole floor can be completed within five days on these high construction sites,” he points out.
Cement machinery and equipment also do very well in the region. In Ras Al Khaimah, for instance, four cement works which are situated quite close to each other are currently being expanded and a fifth is being built. According to the suppliers of cement, limestone and plaster, there is high potential in this sector, particularly in Saudi Arabia. At the moment, there are, for instance, calls for bids for the licensing of 56 new cement works, the spokesman indicates.
Commenting on the construction industry of the Gulf region, Wolf Steinert says: “Dubai currently is the number one boom area in construction on the Arabian peninsula. Over the next five years, however, the boom will be moving away from Dubai to other emirates and countries of the region. Medium-term, the emirate of Abu Dhabi, in particular, could become the new centre of construction, but Qatar and Kuwait are also becoming increasingly more interesting. In addition to these two countries, Saudi Arabia also plays a special role.”
Steinert is the special envoy of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and of Messe München for their joint project “Arabian Peninsula: partner region of bauma 2007”. He recently toured Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, which along with the Yemen make up the partner region of bauma.
Meanwhile, German manufacturers of construction equipment and building material machinery marked yet another record year last year, following an excellent performance in 2005.
In 2006, the sales turnover of German manufacturers of construction equipment and building material machinery increased by 16.5 per cent to 11.64 billion euros.
“For 2007, we forecast an increase of yet another six per cent for the entire industry. Thanks especially to surging exports, 2007 will be our fourth successive year of growth,” said Christof Kemmann, chairman of the industry’s association which is part of VDMA.
The volume of orders already placed for this year is very high, and often extends well into the second half of the year.
“In fact, some machinery, such as mobile cranes and some special excavators, will not be on stock again before 2008,” Kemmann adds.
“2006 was a particularly good year.” According to Kemmann, this was also due to domestic demand, which has finally been picking up as well both for construction machinery (which saw a 25 per cent surge in demand) as well as building material, glass and ceramics machinery (16 per cent).
In total, the industry sold construction equipment and building material machinery of a value of about €3 billion within the domestic market last year.
In addition, according to Kemmann, there was a high demand triggered by a noticeable flow of used machinery to countries abroad, especially to the Middle and Eastern Europe. He expects that Germany will continue to attract investments in the short term too. Against this background, he expects to see an increase of more than eight per cent in domestic demand for his industry throughout 2007.
Some sectors – such as earthmoving equipment, for instance – will probably grow by much higher percentages, taking lead times, amount of orders already placed, respectively, as indicators, he says.
German manufacturers also witnessed substantial growth in foreign markets. Exports climbed up to probably €8.5 billion, nearly 15 per cent up on figures for 2005, primarily due to booming construction industry worldwide. Opec nations, in particular, are becoming increasingly industrialised as well as being producers of raw materials, which account for the increase in exports, Kemmann says. On the whole, the industry will have experienced growth rates for 2006, compared to the previous year, particularly for the Middle East (plus 45 per cent), the Far East (plus 25 per cent) and Europe (plus eight per cent).
This year, Kemmann expects the construction boom to further stimulate markets worldwide and anticipates close to a five per cent increase in demand of construction equipment and building material machinery.