Arab sun

Persian Gulf states the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are spending millions not only on oil and gas processing centres, but also on new hotel and apartment blocks, beach and leisure complexes for tourists.

The capital of the UAE, Dubai, is transforming itself.

‘Now the market in Dubai is booming,’ says Rasool Eskani, managing director of the UAE operations of Turkey-based rental company Sarilar. He says the company, which currently has 60 cranes in Dubai, is looking to increase its capacity to 100 by the end of the year because of demand. Starting this month it is bringing in tower cranes.

The construction boom is so strong that he claims 15% of the world’s tower cranes are currently in Dubai.

Jobs Sarilar is working on include the Burj Dubai tower – at 800m high, the tallest in the world, and the Dubai mall, with a surface area of 50 soccer pitches (both lead by developer Emaar).

A new terminal, two additional concourses and part of a massive freight terminal at Dubai airport are under construction in a US $2.5bn project due to be completed by next year.

Other projects in the area include the Jumeirah Beach Residence (see Cranes Today March p. 26), the Palm Jumeirah coast residences, the World artificial islands, the $730m sports complex including two 25,000 seat outdoor stadiums, among others.

‘The UAE are in need of cranes due to their huge investments in infrastructure and construction works,’ Liebherr-werk Ehingen all-terrain crane dealers told Cranes Today. ‘The market is full of small cranes and our customers are also expecting higher margins with projects for bigger cranes.’

‘Especially in UAE we have increased the sales of new cranes whereas some years ago this was a typical market for used cranes,’ they said.

‘Clients always prefer new cranes to reduce breakdown time,’ Eskani says. ‘All the projects are being worked over short timescales. Most cranes are working day and night. A crane works with maybe 50 people, so a two-hour breakdown poses problems.’

The company does about 60% of its lifting in civil engineering and about 40% in oil and gas projects. Its cranes range from 800t capacity LTM 1800 all terrain, one of the largest in the world, down to Kobelco’s 7t capacity RK70-2 crawler. In March, it took delivery of five 60 US ton (54t) Grove GR 760s.

Loader crane buyers seem to prefer simple, low-price cranes, for handling bricks and blocks.

There has good development in the UAE over the last 12 months, according to a Hiab spokesperson, who also noted Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as good markets. ‘The only country where we have seen a tremendous change is Qatar. Qatar is now the richest country in the region measured by GDP per capita,’ said the regional sales director.

Next year, Qatar hosts the 2006 Asian games in its capital city, Doha. The country is spending $700m on the huge event. Palfinger reports business in Qatar from the Asia games.

Fassi sees a difference between Israel – which orders loaders up to the largest – and Arab countries, which primarily demand cranes under 21tm capacity.

The company sees peace in the more northern reaches of the Middle East as a potential boom: ‘Peace, nearer today, between Israel and Palestine could undoubtedly be a reason for a boom for the entire area, favouring new domestic and foreign investment. The march of democracy in post-Saddam Iraq is a further element that could have positive effects from the investment point of view.’

Fassi has one unique peacetime offering: a land-mine crane. Fassi has sold 50 F45.22 4.2tm loaders with fixed base to the US Army for mounting to the front of special Buffalo mine-clearing vehicles. Fassi is showing at the Aldex military show in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

‘With all the monster projects in Dubai and Qatar it should be booming for quite a while,’ says Dubai-based Liebherr-werk Nenzing crawler crane salesman Kurt Rudiger. ‘But we always have to consider that we live in a relatively unstable area.’