Leading companies from Europe, India and Taiwan will be in Dubai to tap the surging demand for steel in the Gulf region which is rising at five to six per cent annually, according to an expert.

With an annual consumption of five million tonnes of steel products, the industry has provided a steady supply to sustain manufacturers of steel-based products in the GCC which attracted Dh24 billion ($6.5 billion) investments in industries pertaining to steel, noted Satish Khanna, general manager, Al Fajer Information and Services, organizer of Tekno/Tube Arabia 2011 with Messe Dusseldorf as the overseas associate partner.

Tekno/Tube Arabia 2011, an international trade fair for industrial machinery, metal working, machine tools, tubes and pipes industry, will be held from January 8 to 11 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

According to Khanna, leading companies from Europe, India and Taiwan will occupy 70 per cent of total space at the three-day show where they will showcase steel used for pipes and tubes.

“It is predicted that half of the world's steel production will be done in Arab countries by 2012. The local steel market has been witnessing impressive growth due to the widespread availability of energy in the UAE to support the manufacturing of steel products," he noted.

"The building blocks of the UAE's economic development are the significant core industrial and infrastructure sectors such as the steel industry. We have seen high demand for steel products from exhibitors at Tekno/Tube Arabia who are keen to target the worldwide market through the show," he remarked.

According to figures released by Al Fajer Information and Services, there are 67 steel plants in the Arab region valued at Dh10.3 billion ($2.8 billion) and the demand for steel is rising at five to six per cent annually.

"Several large European, Indian and Taiwanese companies would be participating in the  Tekno/Tube Arabia, the only specialized and established event of its kind in the Middle East which has helped foster this growth for the past 18 years and the show is offering an ideal platform for companies to make inroads in the booming Middle East," he added.

The UAE, said Khanna, had been a significant contributor to the overall development of the GCC's steel trade. "The emirates' steel industry mirrors the country's strong growth in the economic and industrial sectors."

As far as tubes industry is concerned, the Middle East has witnessed the launch of a series of new tubes plants one of which is the Empower Logstor Insulated Pipes Systems (ELIPS), the UAE's largest pre-insulated pipe manufacturing facility, in Jebel Ali.

“These plants signify UAE’s drive towards diversification of economy in order to sustain growth. The GCC nations will soon be transformed into  major players in international pipes, tubes and steel industry. This will help the region achieve one of the most important goals — diversifying their income sources,” Khanna added.-TradeArabia News Service