According to a 1987 study, Sharjah was the site of 35 percent of the UAE's industrial installations. The amirate has an industrial zone with factories producing a variety of items, including furniture and household utensils. A fodder factory at Mina Khalid run by the Gulf Company for Agricultural Development opened in 1982. Other plants in the amirate include a cement factory, a plastic pipe factory, and a rope factory.

The gulf's first explosives factory opened in Ras al Khaymah in 1980. A pharmaceutical plant opened the following year. The amirate has several factories that use local stone and minerals. In addition to three cement factories, there is an asphalt company, a lime kiln, and a thriving export business by the Ras al Khaymah Rock Company in aggregate, the stone used in making concrete.

Al Fujayrah and Ras al Khaymah have capitalized on resources from the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains, building plants that produce aggregate, marble, tile, asbestos insulation, and concrete blocks. Although lack of local energy sources has hindered industrial development, Al Fujayrah's development plans for the 1990s include provision for investment by other GCC states.

Umm al Qaywayn has relied on cement and related industries as a source of revenue but has suffered because of overproduction in the UAE. In 1987 it established a free zone modeled on that of Dubayy. Among Ajman's facilities are a dry dock, a ship repair yard, and a cement factory.

Data as of January 1993