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How to Start Other Specialised Wholesale Business with Meydan Free Zone
The UAE entered the world's top ten merchandise exporters for the first time in 2025, ranking ninth globally per Gulf News¹, with total foreign trade reaching AED 6 trillion and non-oil merchandise trade surging 27% to AED 3.8 trillion.
A large share of that trade runs through specialised wholesalers moving intermediate products across industries. An "other specialised wholesale" business covers the intermediate wholesale layer that sits between producers and industrial users, for products that aren't agricultural and typically aren't for household use.
Whether you are supplying marine fuel to vessels at UAE ports, brokering metal ore shipments between Asia and the GCC, wholesaling construction materials to Dubai developers, or dealing in industrial chemicals, recycling materials, or precious stones, this activity covers the specialised wholesale scope that sits between producers and industrial users across the UAE economy.
The UAE is advancing its Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA) programme with a target of raising non-oil trade to AED 4 trillion by 2031 per Gulf News¹, with Q1 2026 alone adding new agreements with the Philippines, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. China remains the UAE's largest trading partner at 11.2% of non-oil trade, followed by India at 8.1% and Switzerland at 6.3%, with gold, telecommunications equipment, and motor vehicles among the most traded goods according to a separate Gulf News² report citing Central Bank data.
Beyond the headline trade figures, the UAE has evolved into a regional commodity trading hub, with HC Group³ reporting that the country is attracting hedge funds, alternative investment firms, and diversified commodity traders drawn by proximity to Gulf sovereign wealth capital and deep trading infrastructure. Voice of Emirates⁴ adds that the UAE's real GDP is projected to grow at 5.6% in 2026, supported by non-hydrocarbon sectors including financial services, manufacturing, and construction, each of which pulls through demand for the intermediate products sitting inside this wholesale category.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero corporate tax on qualifying income, and a fully digital licensing process, positioning specialised wholesale traders at the centre of a market where the UAE's top-ten global export ranking, the CEPA programme, and sustained industrial and construction demand are generating sustained procurement across fuel, metals, construction materials, chemicals, and recycling categories.
Who is this for?
| Audience Segment | Profile |
|---|---|
| Fuel, metals, and commodity wholesalers | |
| Construction materials and hardware traders | |
| Chemicals, recycling, and specialist intermediate product traders | |
| Firms wholesaling fuels, lubricants, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and precious metals to industrial operators, shipping lines, and manufacturing buyers across the UAE and regional markets, leveraging the country's position as a commodity trading hub. | |
| Firms wholesaling construction materials, hardware, plumbing and sanitary equipment, flat glass, paint, and fittings to contractors, developers, and MEP firms feeding into the UAE's USD 900 billion active project pipeline. | |
| Firms wholesaling industrial chemicals, fertilisers, plastics, rubber, textile fibres, paper in bulk, precious stones, and non-metal waste and scrap for recycling to manufacturers, processors, and industrial buyers across the UAE and region. |
4660.00 - Other Specialized Wholesale
Under this activity, you are licensed to wholesale specialised intermediate products that are not agricultural and typically not for household use across the UAE.
Your role is to source from upstream producers, importers, or waste supply streams and move product in commercial volume to industrial, construction, manufacturing, or recycling buyers. The following includes some of the activities listed under this scope.
However, this activity has defined boundaries. It excludes wholesale of agricultural products, collection of household and industrial waste, treatment of waste for disposal, processing of waste and scrap into secondary raw material through a real transformation process, dismantling of automobiles, computers, televisions and other equipment for materials recovery, shredding of cars, ship-breaking, and retail sale of second-hand goods, each of which falls under a separate class.
In short, if you are wholesaling specialised intermediate products, commodities, construction materials, or recyclable waste and scrap, you are in.
| Category | Scope |
|---|---|
| Fuels, metals, and construction materials | Wholesale of fuels, greases, lubricants, and refined petroleum products; wholesale of ferrous and non-ferrous metal ores, primary and semi-finished metals, gold and precious metals; wholesale of construction materials, hardware, plumbing and sanitary equipment, hot water heaters, flat glass, paint, and hand tools. Supply marine fuel and lubricants to vessels calling at UAE ports, broker metal ore shipments between global producers and GCC buyers, or wholesale construction materials and sanitary fittings to Dubai developers working on residential and hospitality projects. TRADER DYNAMICS Specialised wholesale in the UAE typically operates on long-term supplier authorisations, warehousing capacity, and regional distribution networks, with players ranging from large multi-category traders to narrow specialists focused on single commodities like precious metals, industrial chemicals, or scrap metal. |
| Industrial chemicals, plastics, and intermediate products | Wholesale of industrial chemicals including printing ink, essential oils, industrial gases, chemical glues, synthetic resin, acids, and starch derivatives; wholesale of fertilisers and agrochemical products; wholesale of plastic materials in primary forms, rubber, textile fibres, and paper in bulk. Supply industrial chemicals and solvents to manufacturing plants, wholesale fertilisers to agricultural and landscaping buyers, or trade plastic materials in primary forms to packaging and consumer goods manufacturers. MARKET TRENDS HC Group³ reports that the UAE is evolving beyond traditional commodity trading to attract hedge funds, alternative investment firms, and diversified traders, with the country's trading ecosystem increasingly linked to sovereign wealth capital and regional NOC activity. |
| Waste, scrap, and specialist wholesale | Wholesale of precious stones; wholesale metal and non-metal waste and scrap and materials for recycling, including collecting, sorting, separating, stripping used goods to obtain reusable parts, and dismantling automobiles, computers, televisions, and other equipment to obtain and resell usable parts. Dismantle end-of-life vehicles and electronics to resell reusable parts into the regional aftermarket, trade precious stones into Dubai's established gold and gems ecosystem, or wholesale sorted metal scrap to recycling processors across the UAE and regional markets. UAE CONTEXT The UAE's 24 signed CEPAs cover around 2.5 billion people per Gulf News¹, giving specialised wholesalers preferential trade access to a quarter of the global population through a single UAE base, while the country's top-ten global export ranking reflects the maturity of the trading infrastructure. |
Third-Party Approval
No third-party approval is required for this business activity.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
References
- ¹ Gulf News. (2026). UAE Economic Growth Accelerates in Early 2026 on Strong Banking Sector, Trade Expansion and Investment Momentum. gulfnews.com
- ² Gulf News. (2026). UAE Economy to Grow 5.6% in 2026 on Non-Oil Sectors, Diversification and Strong Trade: Central Bank Report. gulfnews.com
- ³ HC Group. The UAE's Emergence as a Commodity Trading Hub: Outlook and Implications. hcgroup.global
- ⁴ Voice of Emirates. (2026). In 2026.. The UAE economy continues to rise and strengthen its global position. voiceofemirates.com
