Cori Ham, from Margules Groome Consulting, attended the 19th Dubai Wood Show which took place from 7 – 9 March 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Nearly 250 exhibitors from 44 countries promoted products ranging from full-scale wood processing factories to high-quality tropical hardwood lumber.
If the Wood Show must be summarised in one word, it could be “Plywood”. Plywood featured very strongly at the show, especially amongst the 64-strong Chinese delegation. Participants could gain access to nearly every type and dimension of plywood on the market, from beautiful hardwood face plywood to film face PVC plywood, sold as the new alternative for multi-use concrete formwork.
European exhibitors focused on “whitewood” construction timber as well as hardwoods from countries such as Romania and France, while North American exhibitors aimed at selling hardwood lumber. Tropical timber exhibitors from Ghana, Gabon, Bolivia and Brazil presented tropical hardwood veneer, lumber and flooring products. Most, if not all products, were presented as being environmentally certified.
The Wood Show emphasised the demand for wood products in the Middle East where large-scale construction in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt continue to drive demand. During the visit to Dubai, Margules Groome was supported by the Dubai office of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. Mr M’Hamed Bahhar, the Trade and Commercial Advisor for Africa, and Ms Naoual Haddouch, the Trade and Commercial Advisor for UAE, Qatar and Levant assisted in arranging meetings with stakeholders in the wood products industry. A warm word of thank you to the excellent work that NZTE does in supporting New Zealand based companies such as Margules Groome’s New Zealand entity.
Figure 1: Summary of Countries Participating in the 2023 Dubai Wood Show
Source: Wood Show Global, Margules Groome
Figure 2: Cori Ham from Margules Groome Consulting and M’Hamed Bahhar from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise at the Dubai Wood Show
Source: Margules Groome Archive