Paper Arabia 2009

A major success in spite of the economic slowdown
Paper Arabia 2009 brought together players from the paper, tissue and converting industry from across the world with good turnaround of Indian companies.
Mr. Satish Khanna, General Manager, Al Fajer Information and Services – the organizers’, said: “Paper industry in the region has grown significantly and Paper Arabia 2009 reflects our efforts to highlight key regional industry segments which have been silently contributing to the economic growth. The industry has seen major developments over the past few years and, with the exponential rise in its growth potential, leading local and regional players are now in the middle of strategic investment and market expansion.”
Paper industry business in the UAE alone has grown tenfold in the last decade and is now estimated to be close to US$ 450 million. The paper market in the region is around 8 million metric tons per year. Of this total, 3 million is supplied locally and 5 million is imported.
Khanna said the Middle East was one of the fastest growing markets in the world for the paper industry. However, domestic supply has grown significantly, especially in the UAE and KSA, but still remains low.
Paper Arabia, with more than 130 exhibitors from 20 countries from across the world, proved to be a major platform for traders and industry players to interact. The show’s participants include leading global names from the UAE, India, Italy, Jordan, France, China, Netherlands USA and UK amongst others.
The Indian arena was managed by Paper Mart. The Indian companies included Aegle Marketing, Alliance International, Ambica Paper Machineries, Bhavi International, Eintec, Foresight International, Hardyal Engineering Works, Hazel Mercantile, Khosla Engineering, Krofta Engineering, MLM India, Modern Industries, Orient Paper & Industries, Parason Machinery, Positive Metering Pumps, PPI Pumps, Scan Machineries, Shalimar Wires Industries, Wires & Fabriks.

Paper Arabia 2009 attracted over 4500 trade visitors, majority of the visitors are from Saudi Arabia, India, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, UAE and other GCC states. The show ended with a promising note announcing next edition scheduled for 26-28, September, 2010 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre with an increased floor space.
Mr. D K Raina, Wires & Fabriks (S.A.) Ltd., commenting about the event and their presence in the region said: “This time the response is better as compared to the previous edition. As far as our presence is concerned we are here from last 5-6 years and we enjoy a market share of 70-80% in the paper machine fabrics in Iran, Saudi Arabia. Our main objective is to further look for the markets of Egypt, Syria, and French Africa like Algeria. Egypt is the focus country for us now at least for next 12 months and we have appointed an agent also for the same. Apart from fabrics we also market products like showers, filters, cutters etc and recently we had collaborated with OMC Collareda Srl, for the fiber recovery system. As in this part of the world it is an important segment.”

We interacted with Mr. Javin Oza from Office Mart Ltd, Mozambique, who was unconvinced from the experience of product abilities of the Indian paper companies. Here are his comments: “Headquartered in Mozambique we have 6 other offices in the southern Africa region wherein, we import papers from Asian, European and other countries. Since last 12 years we are serving the printing and pa c k a g ing indus t r y by stocking & supplying paper. We had bought few grades like bank paper, kraft paper, and packaging paper from India but, the problem we faced was delayed supplies and moreover the packaging was not acceptable. In the color paper we faced dust problem, then running of colors in the color paper like bank paper, art card or brief card. The actual paper delivered was far different from the samples shown. We stock around thousand tons of paper every month and that includes almost all type of grades. But, for whatever applications we have bought paper from India, printing companies have rejected it as the machines are not supporting the paper.
We had an interaction with Mr. Marc Geelen, Director Strategic Marketing, Gruppo Cordenons, who in high spirits informed us about their recent product launch. “It has been a very exciting journey this year. Since the beginning we have accelerated our strategies in terms of new company developments and nobilities for the future which have resulted in launch of the boutique range which is in line with our premium fine papers assortment with the high end applications.”
“Boutique is the umbrella brand which comprises of silk, jeans, wool variety. The name boutique has been chosen because it has been designed with the cooperation of the creative art people and fashion houses in Italy. The respective range i.e. silk, jeans, wool are named according to their genuine appearance, feel like fabrics.”
Further speaking about the idea of industry crisis & launch of new product range, he added: “At the time when the industry is going through crisis we found it perfect moment to launch our new product as many people were asking for something new and different and our thinking says that at the time of crises people will step away from fine things but not step back.
He concluded by saying, “For us India is a very important market in terms of quality and we can say that our position is really amongst the leaders in the fine papers market in India working together with Sona Commercial, as our associate.”

Launch of Gulf Paper Industry Association (GPIA) announced Paper mills from the GCC region have formed a new industry body under the name of Gulf Paper Industry Association (GPIA), with the goal of working united to ensure the robust and sustainable development of the paper industry in the region and its self-reliance.
The formation of the new association was announced on the concluding day of Paper Arabia 2009. The GPIA will be headquartered in Bahrain. It seeks to make a meaningful contribution to creating a non-oil economy in the Gulf as well as provide employment opportunities to GCC nationals. GPIA will also support governmental initiatives on environmental issues by way of recycling waste paper generated locally.