The aluminium industry market worldwide is set to double within the next 10 year, according to international industry experts.

Optimistic on growth prospects, participants at the Aluminium Middle East 2015, which concluded today (April 16) in Dubai, UAE, said with projects worth billions of dollars in the pipeline, the Middle East is among the key markets offering numerous attractive opportunities they are keen on tapping.

The three-day Aluminium Middle East 2015, organised by Reed Exhibitions witnessed many international companies announcing their expansion plans in the region, particularly the UAE.

Maintaining prices amid oversupply are among the key challenges among the participants and new technology plays a major role in generating cost efficiencies as well as driving demand, they said.

John R Knapp, president and chief executive officer, US-based Mid-Mountain Materials, manufacturer of engineered thermal insulation barriers and seals that provide environment protection, emissions control and energy conservation, said: “I believe the market will continue to grow every year at 10 per cent and will double in the next 10 years. We expect a consistent growth even amid cyclical economic changes worldwide.”

As many as 117 major construction programmes, worth more than $1 trillion have been planned for completion by 2030 in the region, according to a report by EC Harris.

These projects involve a combination of retail, real estate, leisure, health, education asset development and also transport, communication and supporting social infrastructure systems.

Suneel R Mardia, CEO of MTLEX.com, which is India’s first non-ferrous e-market place, said: “With numerous projects in the pipeline, the Middle East is clearly a high growth market offering tremendous opportunities to industry worldwide.”

Meanwhile, experts pointed out that the Middle East, along with being the most attractive business ground due to new projects worth  billions of dollars, also gives a high cost advantage to manufacturers on account of low energy costs.

“Low energy costs in the Middle East give a strong cost advantage to the manufacturers, and its here to stay. As more manufacturers keep setting base and expanding in this region, it increases opportunities for us, we will be making inroads to sell our products,” said Knapp.

The EC Harris report also said that big construction projects, which cost more than $1 billion, are due to peak in the UAE by next year, with projects worth about $40 billion due for delivery next year.

Meanwhile, Tecalex, a leading Spanish company engaged in designing and manufacturing equipment for aluminium extrusion and UK-based Morgan Advanced Material, a leader in advance materials technology, were among the firms planning to expand in the region.

Tecalex is planning to set up an extrusion plant in the UAE, while its plans also include two more plants in Saudi Arabia, a second plant in Qatar and two additional extrusion units in Oman.

The plants in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman cater to the needs of the construction industry. However, the proposed plant in the UAE can also be for high-tech industrial products, particularly for the aviation industry.

Morgan Advanced Materials is planning to set up a new fibre manufacturing plant, with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).

Industry players, however, said that maintaining prices in the over supplied aluminium market is among the key challenges.

Amid over-supply, lowering production costs is a major focus among manufacturers and low energy cost drives them to this region, they said.

The market prospects remain bright and new technology is also playing a major role in bringing cost advantage to the manufacturers.

“Using new technology, they can save on labour costs. Also, producing high quality products at the same cost has been made possible with new technology,” said Mardia.

“It is thanks to technology that aluminium, which has inherent properties that no other metal can match, is now making inroads in to almost every sector, thereby increasing demand,” he added.

Daniyal Qureshi, group exhibition director at Reed Exhibition Middle East, organisers of the event, said: “We are pleased with the exceptional industry response to the Aluminium Middle East 2015. The event has attracted the top global suppliers and regional attendance of key buyers, officials and experts have highlighted very positive growth indicators for this industry.”

The event attracted nearly 200 exhibitors from 30 countries, with Germany, Italy and China putting up country pavilions at the event which tracked 4,000 industry professionals from 75 countries.

The Innovation Podium, a key feature of the exhibition, attracted industry professionals to gain insights into the latest technology and trends in the industry and how the industry is shaping now and in the future.

Several new products and services were unveiled by the exhibitors during the show.

Under the Aluminium Business Connect programme, the organizers arranged over 500 meetings with the exhibitors for 130 buyers from 21 countries who registered with them earlier.

The organisers also announced that the next edition of the biennial event will be held from May 27 to 29, 2017. - TradeArabia News Service