Quick Takes : Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland

Poland : Budma

MTC participated for the first time in the Budma International Construction Fair on 25-28 January 2005. Budma is one of the largest trade fairs in Central and Eastern Europe and the fair is very popular among representatives in the construction sector. Themed "Constructing a Platform for Cooperation", Budma 2005 spanned an area of 40,111 m2 of the Poznan International Fairgrounds, Poznan, Poland. The fair featured a diversity of building and construction materials such as equipment and tools, chemicals, roofs, glass, windows, doors, ceramic tiles and insulation materials, among others. The fair was incorporated with several other events such as seminars on the construction industry and the Civil Engineering Day.

About 1,103 companies participated in Budma 2005. Besides a majority of Polish exhibitors, there were also foreign exhibitors from Germany, Italy, Turkey, China, Taiwan and several other countries. Over 57,000 local and international visitors visited the fair.

Germany : BAU Trade Fair

The 16th edition of the BAU Trade Fair, Europe's largest fair for building materials, was held on 17-22 January 2005 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre, Munich, Germany. The fair featured an extensive range of building materials exhibited according to various product segments and themes. Among the interesting themes and segments at the fair were solar technology, urban design, renovation and modernisation as well as energy-efficient buildings. Cladding, decking, doors and door frames, flooring, laminated products, mouldings, panel products, sawntimber, staircases and parts as well as window and window frames were exhibited at the fair.

The fair provided some insights on the latest trends in the German market. Energy-efficient houses or so-called 'passive houses' have a high demand in the market. Other apparent trends at the fair were doors with glass inlays, garden furniture and decking made of Acacia, Merbau flooring and the increasing preference for timber products of lesser known species.

The MTC stand at BAU 2005 was very well visited. Among the highly enquiried Malaysian timber products were decking, flooring, furniture as well as several timber species such as Dark Red Meranti and Merbau. There was also a heightened interest in certified timber products from Malaysia and the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) timber certification scheme.

The number of visitors to BAU 2005 was about 190,000. The next edition of BAU will be held on 15-20 January 2006 at the same fairgrounds.

The Netherlands : BOUWBEURS

The 25th Bouwbeurs International Building and Construction Exhibition was held at the Jaabeurs Exhibition Centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands on 21-26 February 2005. The biennial event claims to be Holland's most important and biggest trade fair for the construction industry, embracing a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of building materials, systems, techniques, appliances and tools. The fair was participated by some 900 exhibitors occupying 52,OOOm2 of exhibition area. A total of 113,311 visitors (a decrease of 700 compared to 2003) attended the fair.

The most popular product categories visited at Bouwbeurs 2005 were the Finishing category, Building Materials and Building Systems as well as Windows and Doors. Among the wood-based products promoted at Bouwbeurs include sawntimber, mouldings, panel products and parquet flooring. The most popular timber species at the fair include Meranti, Merbau, Bangkirai, Teak as well as several other African and South American species.

The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and MTC were invited to participate in the event by DPW Van Stolk Holding BV. The Dutch company is currently active in promoting MTCC-certified timber in the Dutch market. Several of the company's subsidiaries have long established business relationships with Malaysia.

Ireland : Irish Hardware Fair

The Irish Hardware DIY Home Improvement Fair was held at the Main Complex, RDS Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland on 13-14 February 2005. The fair is part of the biennial 'Irish Hardware, Houseware & Garden Trade Fair' organised in Dublin since 1996. The fair promoted a wide range of products including houseware, home security systems, lightings as well as wood-based products such as mouldings, doors, decking, flooring, fencing and garden furniture. The fair attracted 160 exhibitors and 2,650 visitors who included builders, contractors, retailers as well as DIY and garden centre specifiers.

The fair only featured a handful of wood-based exhibitors promoting mainly flooring, mouldings and garden accessories. MTC shared a stand with the Malaysia External Trade and Development Corporation (MATRADE). MTC received relatively good response from the visitors during the two-day fair. Besides local visitors, the MTC stand was also visited by those from the UK. Many of the visitors were interested in gaining knowledge on the types of wood-based products offered by Malaysia.

The Irish Hardware Fair was a very small exhibition with very low representation of exhibitors offering wood-based products. However, it did provide an insight into the Irish market conditions and opportunities.