The Dubai Woodshow (DWS) is an annual must-attend event that draws quality visitors, top international wood and sawmill specialists and woodworking machinery companies from all over the globe. In its recently concluded 19th edition last March 7 – 9, 2023, PalletBiz once again took part in the premier event, along with our South East Europe (Romania) and GCC representatives in the UAE, KSA and Bahrain. PalletBiz Group COO, Mr. Thomas Gents also participated in the expo, which is regarded as the region’s only large-scale trade (B2B) exhibition dedicated for the wood and woodworking machinery industries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
As members of the Packaging & Handling Materials industry, the show was an opportune time for the PalletBiz network as a whole to connect with the key players and decision makers in the global wood industry and to take advantage of this strategic platform in exploring and locking in the abundant opportunities for generating leads, increasing sales and forging relevant partnerships within the industry. This event also provided key insights from industry leaders, experts and professionals while also aiming to tackle some of the industry’s timely challenges to gain a global perspective and create strategies to advance our business.
The current PalletBiz GCC regional franchise network, which comprises of KSA, Bahrain and Qatar, and now setting up 2 more factories in Oman and UAE expectedly by Q2’23, is gearing up to make a strong comeback despite the unusual slow start of the year due to the challenges faced stemming from rising energy prices, sawmills cutting its capacities, and the persistent supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the raw material price system. However, these events can be seized as opportunities to grow and capitalize on their potential into tapping into newer markets and/or diversifying our product mix for the benefit of our ever-expanding network. With the current market trends looking favourably to the buyers, PalletBiz shall concentrate and double its efforts in increasing the focus on global sourcing activities as well as re-intensifying the global sales and regional marketing function to promote brand awareness and strategic account management.
Moreover, the global wood industry is projected to be on a positive growth curve in the next few years following the rise in the construction industry in the Mena region, with the market expected to hit $903 billion in 2026, thus registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2%, based on the Wood Products Global Market Report 2022.
Mr. Thomas Gents summarized the key takeaways from the event as follows:
“I am pleased to participate again this year to meet new and existing strategic suppliers of the network in Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as potential ones for the new regions of PalletBiz to be established in 2023, including India and North Africa. The Network is eagerly looking forward to explore the year ahead with its dramatic growth throughout EMEA and beyond and we’re excited to work with our preferred suppliers to cater for that growth.”
