Dubai WoodShow, a three-day international trade exposition on wood products and woodworking technologies, opened today (March 12) in Dubai, UAE with 300 exhibitors from 55 countries and six country pavilions.

Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Cabinet member and Minister of Infrastructure Development, officially inaugurated the 13th edition of the Dubai Woodshow at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the presence of Pacome Moubelet Bouyeba, Gabonese Minister of Forest, Vira Khmerova, vice president of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Wood Processing, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, along with other key international dignitaries and officials from the UAE and Dubai governments.

“Dubai Woodshow is a very successful exhibition and based on what I have just seen today – it will help our economy. The wood industry is very important to us and it is an added value to our economy,” said Dr Al Nuaimi. “The exhibition showcased a lot of new concepts, technologies and innovations that will help the industry in future as we move on.”

Bouyeba said he was amazed with the new technology, products and innovation in the wood industry. “We are a country where 88 per cent of the land is covered with forest – that helps the wood industry to produce $1 billion revenues a year. I have attended a large number of wood exhibitions. However, Dubai WoodShow offers the best technologies and products and services. I am amazed at what I have seen in this exhibition,” he added.

The three-day international trade show that showcases the latest wood products, woodworking, machine tools and new technology, includes six country pavilions – Canada, China, Finland, Russian Federation, Turkey and the US.

Organised by Strategic Marketing and Exhibitions, the event works as an industry barometer on the overall woodworking market and the induction of new concepts, ideas, accessories and technologies. More than 10,000 trade visitors are expected to participate at the international event – including visitors from the GCC and other markets to source the latest products, services, machineries as well as renew their existing trade relations.

Dawood Al Shezawi, president of Strategic Marketing and Exhibitions, said: “A surge in oil price which is trading over $60 a barrel brings back optimism and as investor sentiment rides high, we have seen a string of project announcements from the beginning of this year that will later create demand for interior décor, wood products and woodworking machineries.

“The massive construction activities in the GCC, especially in Dubai that is driven by Expo 2020-related infrastructure and projects – will continue to drive demand for wood products and we expect to see the wood import and export value to exceed Dh4 billion recorded in 2016 – in the following years.”

Dubai WoodShow is being supported by its strategic partner Homag, Steel Wood Industries, SIMCO and a number of other partners.

Raed Zuhier Damrah, manager of Wood Division of Simco Industrial Machines, said: “The manufacturing sector is aggressively booming year after year. We have seen massive growth in our industry and by year 2020 we have great expectations from this market.”

The UAE’s Dh4 billion ($1 billion) wood and wood products trade will get a solid growth push from the Dh285 billion real estate transactions in Dubai’s real estate sector in 2017 as the emirate sees more than 50,000 new homes are delivered in the emirate in 2017 and 2018.

Last year, 69,000 buyers and investors bought and sold Dh285 billion worth of land, properties and mortgage packages in Dubai. Each home requires wooden furniture, accessories and components and this is visible more in the villas and townhouses across the country.

According to the International Trade Statistics – a global gateway, the UAE’s total trade in wood and wood products reached $1.1 billion (Dh4 billion) in 2016, including $920.21 million (Dh3.37 billion) worth of imports and $185.88 million worth of exports.

This is part of the Dh1.56 trillion worth of external trade recorded by the UAE in 2016. The total volume of non-oil foreign trade in the UAE was about 232.7 million tonnes, of which 101.3 million tonnes were weight of imports, 112.9 million tonnes were weight of exports and 18.6 million tonnes was weight of re-exports.

Demand for wood, wood products and woodworking industry is expected to grow further due to the ongoing construction projects the value of which in September 2017 reached $252.7 billion (Dh927.4 billion),according to BNC Network, there were 7,531 projects.

According to a latest Ventures Middle East market research, the size of spending in the GCC countries in terms of home decoration and decoration rose from $15.5 billion in 2016 to more than $17.7 billion in 2017, giving the exhibition an added advantage as it brings together the world's largest manufacturers of furniture, wood products and furniture fittings worldwide to meet the Local and regional market needs.

Dubai WoodShow runs along with Dubai International Furniture, Accessories and Components (Difac), specialised in the field of furniture and machines for the manufacture of wood products and accessories. It also brings together a large number of participants worldwide. More than 300 exhibitors cover 17,000 sq m of net occupied exhibition space at the Dubai World Trade Centre, attracting the world's largest companies.

The number of visitors coming to the exhibition is expected to cross last year’s 10,000 visitors.

“This year, the exhibition is divided into two showcases – Dubai WoodShow, which is dedicated to wood machinery and presents the latest world of modern technology and fourth-generation technologies in the field of furniture and machinery, while the other – Dubai International Furniture, Accessories and Components (Difac) that highlights modern innovations offered by the latest major companies in the furniture and decoration industry.– TradeArabia News Service