The 2023 edition of the Big 5 Dubai, the region’s premier exhibition for the construction industry, drew large crowds to the Dubai World Trade Centre last month. A highlight for the construction equipment and machinery segment was the Big 5 Heavy, a dedicated section for the equipment industry.
The participants included some of the biggest brands, dealers and machinery houses from the UAE and the region. While some were exhibiting for the first time, others were returning to the event.
Interest in MB Crusher at Big 5
Among the latter was MB Crusher, the Italian mobile crusher and screener specialist. Najmeddine Sahraoui, Deputy General Manager, Middle East and Africa, told PMV Middle East: “At Big 5 Heavy this year, we’ve met visitors from various regions, not just the Middle East. There’s been great interest from Africa and India, for example.”
Speaking about the company and its recent performance, he said: “The year 2023 has been a good one in the Middle East for MB Crusher. We have placed many pieces of MB equipment in the region this year, working for several important projects, especially in Saudi Arabia, such as the NEOM projects, several projects in Riyadh, Dammam and Jezzan.
“Also here in the UAE we have placed many MB products, like drum cutters, jaw crusher buckets, etc. in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai. We have a lot of demand for our equipment in this region, all of which is made 100% in Italy and we are proud of our Italian heritage.
“Our products are geared towards enabling contractors to recycle as much as they can. We make it possible to reuse whatever can be extracted from a job-site, such as concrete from demolition, which is where our equipment becomes very useful.
@With MB Crusher equipment you can take material from demolition sites and make them fit for reuse, which is a greener practice because you’re saving the environment by requiring less new material.”
First Big 5 for LiuGong and partner Gargash Motors
For Chinese equipment major LiuGong and its UAE dealer Gargash Motors and General Trading (GMGT), this was the first time at Big 5. Mahmoud Darras, Sales Manager, GMGT, said: “We are participating in Big 5 in collaboration with LiuGong to show off some new models. LiuGong is one of the premium manufacturers of heavy equipment in China since 1961 and are now among the five biggest manufacturers from the country.
@They work globally with their network of dealers and we, Gargash Motors, are the official dealers in the UAE.
“We have a lot of quality equipment that we wanted to show, with the focus being on earthmoving equipment such as wheel loaders, excavators and dozers, as well as single drum rollers. LiuGong of course acquired the famous Polish dozer brand Dressta sometime ago, and now the dozers that LiuGong makes all sport Dressta design and quality.
@We have the full range of LuiGong products, including the recent addition of the material handling products or forklifts. We have seen great interest from the market and have met many people from our target audience here at Big 5. We were eager to sell at least one machine at this event and we’ve managed just that.”
United Motors intros Wacker Neuson electric compactor
Meanwhile, another UAE powerhouse, United Motors and Heavy Equipment, displayed many of its brands and products at Big 5 this time., and Prince Richard Kofi, Deputy Manager, said: “The focus for this year is more on net-zero products and pursuing this objective, for the first time in the UAE we have brought a net-zero plate compactor.
@It works on battery, which can be worn as a backpack. This same battery can then also be used for several other products such as electric vibrators. These machines are from Wacker Neuson, a name that needs no introduction in the compact equipment world.
“The response to these zero-emission products has been beyond our expectations, and it has encouraged us to consider bringing in more sustainable products. We are also displaying a large excavator and wheel loader from Sany.
“Alongside we have tower lights form Generac and Wacker Neuson as well. We also have solar tower lights from Generac, which are completely zero-emission. And we are displaying a MAN tractor head that is ideal for heavy-duty tasks.”
Transworld shows off Everdigm concrete pumps
Dubai-based Transworld showed off Everdigm concrete pumps, which it represents in the UAE. S. Badri Narayanan, Managing Director, Transworld Metal Works LLC., said: “Transworld as a company has four segments: Trading, manufacturing, rental and service. Our trading segment sells concrete pumps and mixers and the brand we represent is Everdigm from South Korea.
“We also offer rock drills and manufacture trailers, tippers, and water and fuel tankers and manufacture high pressure washers and special buses for exploration purposes. We have a rental division for concrete pumps, plastering machines and sand pumps. And we have a service centre for construction machinery and spare part sales.”
At Big 5, Transworld presented a high pressure MOLI pump, which can pump concrete up to a height of 80 floors from ground level, depending upon the slurry.
“We’ve brought in a special unit from Everdigm now and in fact, we’ve already sold it at the show as well as another unit,” Narayanan revealed, adding: “We build the pumps on any truck chassis of the customer’s choice, be it a European or a Chinese one. Our manufacturing facilities are in Jebel Ali and Dubai Industrial City.”
Schwing-CMC highlight collaboration at Big 5
German concrete equipment giant Schwing Stetter was at Big 5 Heavy to reach out to the market with long-standing UAE dealer CMC. Ziad Hamade, General Manager, CMC, said: “CMC and Schwing have been together in the region for 42 years now and it’s been a successful relationship. This year we had a good turnover and achieved the top UAE market share for Schwing in stationary pumps.”
Speaking about the event, he added: “This year’s show has been impressive, better than last year and the year before. The footfall is good and we’ve met a lot of partners and potential customers.”
Milwaukee looks to tool up in region
US power tools major Milwaukee was at Big 5 Heavy to reach out to new Middle East customers. A representative from the brand said: “We are the leaders in cordless tools that require advanced battery power technology. But we are gradually moving into light machinery and equipment, given the synergy with the technologies that we own.
“We have also added new business lines, such as our PPE or personal protective equipment division. This is again something we would like to introduce to the Middle East. This is our first time at Big 5 and we’ve received a very good response from the market in terms of future potential, mainly in the profile of people that we’ve met.”
Kotai looks for regional partners at Big 5
Chinese road-construction equipment brand Kotai came to Big 5 to look for dealers in the GCC as a first step to setting up their formal presence in the region. Rick Zhang, Vice President, explained that the company makes soil and asphalt compactors and other road construction equipment, and has been doing so for over a decade.
“We have exported our products to countries in this region such as Iraq, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and to north African countries. This is the first time we are at Big 5 in Dubai and our goal here is to find reliable dealers that can partner us and be the face of our brand for customers in the region. We need people on the ground here to take our company further and to provide the after-sales back-up that all customers need. We’ve had some promising talks here at Big 5.”
GTHE focuses on SITRAK trucks and Terex cranes
Galadari Trucks and Heavy Equipment (GTHE), one of the UAE’s largest equipment houses, came to Big 5 with SITRAK Trucks and Terex cranes. Walid Ismail, General Manager for SITRAK at GTHE said: “Galadari is a market leader in the UAE and now we are expanding our business to other countries in the GCC. We have proven capability in terms of after-sales support for our customers, which will reflect in all the GCC countries we will operate in.
“We are exhibiting SITRAK Trucks here and are happy with how customers are now considering this brand on par with the European ones. We are displaying two heavy-duty SITRAK trucks for mixer and tipper applications, and one for long-haul cargo operations with a dual cab.”
Another brand on the Galadari stand was Terex Cranes, famous for its rough-terrain cranes (RTC). Ajit Nair, Head of Sales, MEA, Rough Terrain Cranes, said: “The footfall has been good this year at Big 5. We have displayed two models, a Terex Franna pick-and-carry crane and a Terex RTC. Our manufacturing bases for Terex Franna are Australia and India, and this is the first model we are exporting from the Indian plant. It’s an FR17C, which has a 17-ton capacity.
“This model is built in India to target the Middle East with its specifications. On the RTC side, our factory is in Italy and we have cranes form 35 to 90 ton capacity. We are among the leaders in that segment.