Dubai exhibition proves the magnificent seventh.

For the visitors, exhibitors and organisers, this year's Middle East Coatings Show was the most successful ever. Dubai in the United Arab emirates provided a fitting venue, from where PPCJ's editor and news editor report on what went on.

It was the most successful day in the seven year

By the end of the show, around 1800 visitors had passed through the doors, representing more than 60 countries. As expected by the organisers, the majority came from the United Arab Emirates, and there were large contingents from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

The exhibition was opened by Mr Abdul Rahman G Al Mutaiwee, director general of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. After formally cutting the entrance ribbon, he and his entourage were guided around the exhibition by representatives of the organiser, DMG World Media.

The Coatings Research Institute of Belgium organised a highly successful two-day conference alongside the exhibition. And, for the first time at a Coatings Show, visitors had the opportunity to attend a series of business presentations.

What follows is a potted tour of some of the highlights of the exhibition, along with the opinions of some of the exhibitors on the event and the state of the market for coatings in the Gulf and beyond.

Dutch company, Colortrend, was exhibiting with its agent in the Gulf and North Africa, Eurochem Industries. The company has only been exploring the market in Dubai for around one year, and has high hopes for its Colortrend Plus colorants, which have now been developed through several generations -- 802 being the latest system. It is described as being ideal for point of sale (POS) tinting and is VOC- and APE-free, has lower odour and is compatible with current and future legislation. Literally 1000s of colours can be achieved by using the company's mixing schedules. Colortrend's Luc Driessen explained that he hopes to expand the market in Dubai for POS tinting and gain ground with its in-plant tinting systems in the marine industry.

DCI Harco's mission at the Middle East Coatings Show was to broaden the scope of applications for its products. David White, marketing and export manager, said that cost not performance was usually the primary factor that influenced paint buyers in the Middle East. As the largest emulsions supplier in Saudi Arabia, and a significant player in the whole Gulf area, the company is keen to promote paints with better performance. One of the difficulties is that labour costs are low, so it is easier to re-paint more often, rather than use a better performing paint in the first place, said White. Although not launching any new products, the DCI Harco stand highlighted a number of products, including Viking 5451 universal decorative paint binder, which can be used in gloss, matt and masonry paints, and textured coatings.

John Fahy, sales manager -- Industrial Biocides, Nipa Biocides, was critical of the approach of many overseas companies to doing business in the Middle East. He said many were guilty of selling sporadically and in large volumes, but with no real commitment to the region. Nipa Biocides, he said, was trying to increase its business in the Middle East at a realistic growth rate through sensible pricing, consistent visiting and technical support. Its presence at MECS was demonstration of its commitment to the region.

Marine industry

For Cardanol Chemicals -- a producer of epoxy curing agents for marine and heavy duty coatings, concrete protection and drinking water pipes and tanks -- the price of oil was critical to business. The company's Nic Baetsle, sales manager, explained that his main business was in the high-end marine industry, it is a growing market, he said, but dependent on tenders and projects, and as oil prices are rising at the moment, he was content with the level of contracts coming his way. Cardanol is a US company, but the Middle East is handled from Belgium. It was the company's first time at a Middle East Coatings Show, and Baetsle was delighted at the number of visitors and the variety of countries they had travelled from.

The Byk Chemie/Byk Cera stand featured a host of new additives for the coatings and inks industries. These were for aqueous, solvent-based, solvent-free, and powder coatings, as well as a solitary wetting and dispersing additives for UV inks. Highlights included Byk-9076, a wetting and dispersing additive developed from plastics additives, it has been designed for use in 100% solids coating systems, such as polyurethane and epoxy floorings, gel coat pastes and construction chemicals.

As a supplier of additives for latex paints, Angus Chemie takes its responsibility for technical support seriously. As Michel Hourani, application research director, said, every paint has a different formulation. The company has exhibited at every Middle East Coatings Show and has been present in the region since 1990/1. Hourani said of the exhibition, `There has been a significant evolution of both the number and quality of visitors. The first show attracted mostly traders, now there are many more technical and commercial people.' The company's presence at the show was to demonstrate that it was serious about the region. `As we started to be known and people used our products, there were more questions, that is why we are here. And, of course, to make new contacts.'

Four ranges of non-leafing aluminium pastes were launched by Schlenk Metallpulver, under the names Alumet, Alucar, Alubright (a high sparkling paste) and Alushine. The company's export sales director, Hans Bittl, told PPCJ that these new ranges represented the latest in a product line dating back 120 years. They are destined to be used in paint, car repair, original equipment manufacture (OEM) and general industrial sectors. Schlenk has agents in most Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan, but the strongest market for the company is Iran. Bittl puts this down to his company's long presence in Iran and a first class agent in Tehran-based Alum Rang. Asked for his thoughts on the visitors to the Schlenk stand, Bittl said, `There has been a good mix of paint, printing ink and traders from all over the Middle East.'

Al-Jubail Chemical Industries is a relatively new company that has been producing epoxy resins for just one year. Its production facility is in Saudi Arabia, the only such in the Middle East. It is a collaborative venture with Ciba Specialty Chemicals, which provides Al-Jubail Chemical Industries with the technology and licence. Sixty percent of its output of 20,000tpa is bought by Ciba, with the remainder being sold in the Middle East and North America. Rafiq Zachariah. sales manager with the company, said he expected to gain a growing share of the 30ktpa epoxy resin market in the Middle East.

Iranian visitors

For Dieter Coilek, sales manager for powder coatings machinery producer Buss, the exhibition highlighted two interesting factors. First was the amount of interest from Iranian companies; in excess of 30 visitors from Iran alone discussed various items of equipment. Of course, there is no guarantee that this interest will become orders, but the degree of interest from one country was significant. The second factor highlighted by Coilek was the large number of family enterprises and the consequent differences in the nature of business relations. It was just as likely, he said, that a deal will be sanctioned by a shake of hands. The important thing was trust.

The next Middle East Coatings Show will return to Cairo, Egypt in 2001 (27-28 February). After the success of this year's event, MECS 2001 is a virtual sellout, with a lot of interest being shown in MECS 2002 when it returns to Dubai. After seven years, the Middle East Coatings Show is now clearly established as the premier event for the coatings industry in the region. This year's event was the best yet; next year's looks like being equally popular.

Visitors to the Middle East Coatings Show 2000

Algeria          1
Amman            1
AUE              1
Bahrain         16
Bangladesh       1
Belgium          8
Bulgaria         5
Cairo            3
Canada           1
China            1
Cyprus           3
Denmark          3
Doha             3
Egypt           35
France           5
Germany          8
Greece           1
Holland          4
Hong Kong        3
IAE              1
India           37
Indonesia        5
Iran           124
Iraq             1
Italy           14
Japan            1
Jordan          32
Kampala          2
Kenya           14
Korea            3
KSA             12
Kuwait          30
Latvia           2
Lebanon         16
Malaysia         3
Morocco          3
Mauritius        1
Netherlands      2
Nigeria          1
Norway           3
Oman            26
Pakistan        72
Poland           2
Qatar           10
Saudi Arabia   183
Singapore        1
South Africa     6
South Korea      2
Spain            1
Sri Lanka        2
Sudan            8
Sweden           3
Switzerland      4
Syria           27
Taiwan           1
Tanzania         1
Netherlands      3
Tunisia         10
Turkey          10
UAE            994
Uganda           1
USA              3
UK              23
Yemen           16
Zudan            1