The UAE-based Al Abbar Group aims to become completely self-sufficient and strengthen its leadership in the aluminium, glass and stainless steel industry, according to Rashid Al Abbar, chairman and founder of the group.

Dorma-Glas, which has developed into one of the world's leading suppliers of glass fittings, offering a complete range of hardware for toughened glass systems, internal glass doors and horizontal sliding partitions, continues to introduce innovative products and boost its portfolio of acquisitions to offer clients an even wider choice of products

Construction and glazing product specialist Tremco Limited has introduced a new high-performance, low-modulus, fast-curing sealant, to offer specifiers an effective means of sealing dynamically-moving joints in curtain-wall and cladding systems, precast concrete and most other common building substrates.

Elumatec, which is said to be the largest manufacturer of machines for the fabrication of aluminium and uPVC profiles in the world, set up its branch office last year in Dubai, UAE, to serve the entire Gulf region, India and Pakistan.

The Netherlands-based Hunter Douglas, recognised as a world market leader in window-covering products, has a separate division dealing with a diverse range of architectural products.

Wright Style, a UK-based steel glazing specialist, has called on architects to reassess their approach to the use of glass in airport construction. The firm believes that recent developments in steel glazing systems are now having a major impact on how and where glass can be used - both aesthetically and to perform other functions.

Switzerland based curtain-walling specialist Schmidlin AG, which has an office in Abu Dhabi, has just completed furnishing of a 3,500 sq m facility in Mussafah in the emirate to fabricate materials required for curtain-walling systems. The facility is due to go on stream this month.