Dubai WoodShow 2018 set to return in March

The Middle East region’s premier destination for wood specialists, the 13th edition of Dubai WoodShow is going to be held from March 12 to 14, 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It is the region’s only dedicated business-to-business meeting place for the wood, wood accessories and woodworking machinery industry.

The show provides a perfect platform for suppliers, manufacturers and machinery companies to showcase their products, innovative technologies, production scenarios and large scale machinery to key players in the wood and woodworking machinery industry in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Research shows that 70 percent of the timber and wood products are used in construction industry while the rest are used in real estate, interiors, furniture and other industrial applications. The statistics reflect a growing demand for wood products in the region, primarily driven by the overall economic growth as well as the growth in the region’s Dh 8.8 trillion (US 2.4 trillion) worth of construction activities.

The wood and wood-based products sector will get a further boost with the delivery of more than 25,000 homes in Dubai this year, according to industry reports, especially when new home-owners start purchasing their furniture and home décor products.

With an average spent of Dh 2,000 on wooden products per home, this translates to a Dh 50 million spent in this year in Dubai alone. However, with more than 35,000 residential units slated for delivery in 2018, spend on wooden products is expected to jump 40 percent to Dh 70 million.

In order to capture this growing market, more than 300 exhibitors from 100 countries are all set to showcase their innovative solutions at the next edition of Dubai WoodShow, which will showcase new designs, style and product innovation on managing home space in innovative ways.

Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO, Strategic Marketing and Exhibitions, organiser of the Dubai WoodShow, says, “The growth in the housing market will drive the wood, wood-related and timber business across the region and this creates a great opportunity for the industry. As families move to their new freehold homes, they will require fresh supply of furniture and due to the tastes and trend, most families look out for authentic wooden furniture and products – wherein lies the new demand.”

Demand for wood products is expected to be driven also by the new hotel projects. Dubai will add 40,000 hotel rooms and service apartments to meet the growing demand of tourists as part of the build-up to the Expo 2020, which is less than three years away.

Dawood Al Shezawi remarks, “As the hotel developers are racing against time to deliver more than 40,000 hotel rooms that will help the emirate to serve 20 million hotel guests annually as well as the 25 million visitors to Expo 2020 in six months’ time. As we speak, a number of hotel operators are floating tenders for wooden beds, tables, and wooden interior products to offer greater comfort to hotel guests. This is going to be a great driver of demand for wooden products.”

For coming March, organisers anticipate more than 300 exhibitors from over 106 countries to visit the show. The total area of the exhibition is 17,388 square meters, offering exhibiting the companies a chance to display their products and offerings in a vast setting.