MIDDLE EAST STONE 2018

Dubai Exhibition – Middle East Stone 2018 – Post Show Report

Middle East Stone took place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, September 4th to 6th and almost doubled exhibitor numbers for 2018, with more than 400 global providers of stone, marble and ceramics exhibiting together later this year. The show provides stone solutions for all projects.

The exhibition was expanding up to 16,000sqm of space and welcomed its largest ever pool of international pavilions from the likes of Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Iran, Portugal and China as the UAE cements its position as the Middle East & Africa’s leading import and export hub for stone.

Leading stone trade and supplier associations from Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, India and China represented some of the country pavilion exhibitors using Middle East Stone as a springboard into the regional market.

Middle East Stone

The region gears up for what will be perhaps the biggest decade in its history in regards to urban growth and infrastructure advancement.

“These vast projects come in the lead up to the likes of Dubai Expo 2020 and Saudi Vision 2030, two of the key reasons the Middle Eastern stone market is experiencing such buoyancy. Not only will the exhibition look to bring international stone suppliers to one of the highest-spending construction markets in the world, but it will offer insight, technologies and networking solutions that won’t be found at any other show in the region.”

According to market analysts BNC, the GCC currently accounts for 20% of the global stone market. Economically, that is said to be worth in excess of US$5 billion-a-year and is expected to account for 19.6 billion metric tons of stone by 2020. Across the region, urban construction accounts for 80% of all stone usage, being at the heart of residential, commercial, hospitality and infrastructural developments.

As of last year, BNC estimated there to be 20,885 active construction projects taking place in the GCC – with the UAE and Saudi Arabia constituting for approximately 70% of that.

HUGE MIDDLE EAST URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE GROWTH MAKES DUBAI FOCUS OF GLOBAL STONE INDUSTR

UAE leads latest surge in regional mega projects as Middle East Stone spotlights region’s massive appetite for natural stone, marble and ceramics.

Urban construction, which is at the heart of residential, commercial, hospitality and infrastructural developments, accounts for 80% of all stone usage across the Middle East.

According to market analysts BNC, a raft of new mega projects valued at US$29.19 billion were launched in the Middle East and North Africa’s residential, hospitality, retail, healthcare and commercial sectors over the last 12 months.

“Over the next two years, demand for natural stone materials will continue to be driven by projects surrounding Expo 2020. Following this, we see mega projects such as Saudi Arabia’s Neom as well as a slew of other social infrastructure developments in the Kingdom as major drivers,” said Avin Gidwani, CEO of BNC.

Leading the way was the UAE with projects worth US$11.57 billion followed by Iraq (US$10 billion), Saudi Arabia US$3.66 billion), Jordan (US$3 billion), Kuwait (US$1.3 billion), Oman (US$100 million) and Qatar (US$50 million).

Middle East Mega Project

The UAE leads the way of the natural stone industry with US$11.57 billion worth of construction projects.
These added to an estimated total of more than 20,800 other projects which were already active in the region, underlining the growing importance of Dubai’s annual platform for the natural stone, marble and ceramics industry.

From 4-6 September at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the fourth edition of Middle East Stone connected more than 400 suppliers, manufacturers and distributors with thousands of decision-makers from the region’s US$5 billion-a-year stone procurement market.

“The huge level of urban growth and infrastructure development we are witnessing in the Middle East makes this market an enormously lucrative one for stone suppliers globally. The GCC alone accounts for 20% of the global stone market, creating a regional market worth an estimated US$5 billion-a-year which is expected to create a demand for 19.6 billion metric tons of stone by 2020,” said Yan Wang, event director for Middle East Stone.

Urban construction, which is at the heart of residential, commercial, hospitality and infrastructural developments, accounts for 80% of all stone usage across the Middle East.
Among the new mega projects announced over the last 12 months highlighting the region’s insatiable appetite for natural stone, marble and ceramics were the US$6.8 billion mixed use development, District Seven, at Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, Jordan’s US$3 billion new Amman capital city, and the US$2 billion first phase of the New Jeddah Downtown project to regenerate Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

The CPD-accredited workshops and sessions made up a large part of the Stone Conference, allowing professionals to share their expertise on a platform dedicated to knowledge-sharing.
Middle East Stone is sponsored by Sun Italia and Arwani, and supported by the Natural Stone Institute, Assimagra, Confindustria Marmomacchine, Enterprise Greece, Brasil Original Stones, Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Abirochas, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Economy, UAE Contractors’ Association and Developers & Builders Alliance.