Quick Take : Hungary, Italy, Germany, China

HUNGARY : CONSTRUMA International Building Trade Fair

Timber and timber-based products made a strong presence at the 24th edition of Construma on 5-9 April 2005. Held at the Budapest Fair Centre in Budapest, Hungary, Construma is one of the most important building trade fairs in central Europe and caters to builders, specifiers and architects. About 900 construction and trading companies from 21 countries participated in the fair, covering an area of 38,000m2. MTC was the only representative from a tropical timber-producing country

Wooden windows and doors were among the major timber products on display. MTC received a number of enquiries mainly from the local manufacturers and architects. Among the items of interests were pre-finished hardwood flooring, Merbau and Dark Red Meranti sawntimber, veneer, furniture and plywood. The fair attracted over 60,000 visitors.

ITALY : SAIDUE Living

The 24th edition of Saiedue Living, an international exhibition on architecture, interior finishings, building renewal and technologies, was held at the Bologna Trade Fair Centre, Bologna, Italy on 16-20 March 2005. There were 1,432 participating companies this year, exhibiting an extensive range of products including doors, windows, flooring as well as lighting systems and equipment. All products were classified according to several themed exhibitions such as 'SATES', 'FLOOR EXPO', 'NATURPOLlS', 'LIVING STONES', 'JOINERY AT SAIDUE', 'SECURBUILDING' and 'SUNWEEK'. This was MTC's ninth participation in the fair. The majority of trade enquiries received by MTC were on Meranti laminated scantlings and Meranti sawntimber. Other products of interest included Merbau flooring, MDF and plywood.

The organisers reported that a total of 130,071 trade professionals visited Saiedue Living 2005, an increase of 6.51 % and 10.41 % compared to the 2004 and 2003 editions, respectively. Saiedue Living 2006 will be held on 14-18 March.

GERMANY : INTERZUM

Interzum 2005 was held on 29 April-3 May at the KolnMesse Fairgrounds, Cologne, Germany. A total of 1,300 companies from 63 countries took part in this edition of the biennial fair (a drop of 13% from around 1,500 exhibitors in 2003). Over the five-day period, the fair attracted some 49,000 visitors from 132 countries (a drop of 9% compared to the 2003 fair).

Among the products featured at the biennial fair include:

materials and supplier parts for the production of cupboards, kitchen furniture and interiors
machinery, materials and supplier parts for the production of upholstered furniture and mattresses, cover fabrics and leather
semi-finished products for cabinet, office and modular furniture.

In the timber-based product sectors, the items on display include sawntimber, veneers, laminates, panel products, flooring and furniture components.

MTC participated in Interzum 2005 along with two Malaysian companies, namely Maicador Sdn Bhd and Segamat Panel Boards Sdn Bhd. The former showcased doors and laminated boards while the latter exhibited MDF, decorated papers and knock-down furniture. MTC received a total of 84 enquiries, mainly on Meranti sawntimber and plywood, from the trade visitors coming from Germany, India, Spain, Pakistan, Turkey, the Middle East and other EU countries.

The next Interzum will be held on 11-15 May 2007.

CHINA : MTC Technology Study Mission

MTC organised a technology study mission to China on 21-26 March 2005. The mission attracted 12 participants including wood product and furniture manufacturers who took the opportunity to acquire the latest information and development in woodworking technology and machinery.

The mission comprised visits to three woodworking factories in an industrial area near Shanghai as well as visits to 'WoodMac China', 'WoodBuild China' and 'FurniTek China' fairs. The three biennial international fairs were held concurrently at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre on 22-25 March 2005. The three fairs covered a combined exhibition area of around 28,OOOm2 and featured products of 550 companies from 27 countries.

This was the first such mission organised by MTC to China and given the positive response received, MTC would continue to organise such missions to other provinces in China.