Attractive quartet of trade fairs for the plastics industry

Export-oriented companies active in the global plastics and rubber industry can look forward to a vibrant quartet of events in the first half of 2009. ArabPlast in Dubai, INTERPLASTICA in Moscow, PLASTINDIA in New Delhi and CHINAPLAS in Guangzhou will offer machine builders as well as producers of raw materials and processors an excellent opportunity to showcase their innovations and forge new customer contacts in attractive markets. Messe Düsseldorf, the organiser of the world’s No. 1 event for the industry, K, will support its clients’ participation in these high-calibre regional fairs and harness its experience and expertise to put together outstanding information and order platforms together with its local partners.

ArabPlast staged at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre kicks off the series of fairs from 10 to 13 January 2009. As of 2004, Messe Düsseldorf has been the exclusive partner of the Arab International Plastic & Rubber Industry Trade Show, which is being organised for the ninth time by Al Fajer Information & Services. The event has long since established itself as the leading platform for the plastics and rubber industry in the Middle East. Not only is this region currently booming but experts predict that in the coming years the Gulf States will become the premier producers and exporters of petrochemicals and plastics. With a roughly 80 percent share of the world’s crude oil supplies coming from this region, the Gulf States already play a key role in the global plastics industry. Against this backdrop, the local plastics industry is also experiencing accelerated growth. The number of processing businesses has doubled over the last five years. Above all, the flourishing engineering and building construction sector is a source of tremendous demand for plastic products.

ArabPlast 2007 drew 326 exhibitors and 9,700 visitors while the upcoming event is set to far exceed these results. Some 650 exhibiting companies are expected to participate and registrations have streamed in from 22 countries so far. Official national participations have been announced by Austria, Germany, Italy and the UK. Visitors can therefore look forward to an even more representative overview of the international spectrum of offerings, especially as many big-name exhibitors have enlarged their stand areas in order to showcase the very latest machinery models.

Once again, TEKNO/TUBE Arabia, the 9th International Trade Fair for Industrial Machines, Metalworking, Machine Tools, Tubes & Pipes, will be staged in tandem with ArabPlast 2009.

On the Russian market, INTERPLASTICA is the top trade fair for plastic and rubber technology. Opening its doors for the twelfth time in 2009, the event will be held at the ZAO Expocentre in Krasnaya Presnya in Moscow from 27 to 30 January. Already, the fair is enjoying high demand and as organisers, Messe Düsseldorf and its subsidiary OOO Messe Düsseldorf Moscow estimate 600 exhibitors will be showcased across roughly 13,800 square metres of net exhibition space. To date, companies from 29 countries have registered and official national participations from Austria, China, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Taiwan and Turkey will turn out. Once again, the largest exhibitor contingents will represent Germany, Russia and Italy.

INTERPLASTICA and UPAKOVKA/UPAK ITALIA, the International Trade Fair Machinery and Equipment for the Manufacture of Packaging, Packaging Machinery, Confectionery Machinery, Packaging and Packaging Aids, Logistics, will once again run in tandem. Together, the pair offers a panoramic presentation of these two dynamic growth industries.

For suppliers of plastic and rubber machinery, raw materials and semi-finished products, Russia and its neighbours will remain a highly interesting market for the foreseeable future. Consumer-driven sectors, in particular, such as food and cosmetics, construction and automotive engineering are spurring brisk demand.

Just under 90,000 visitors attended the Indian subcontinent’s leading trade fair for plastics and rubber, PLASTINDIA, and expressed high levels of satisfaction with the 1,288 exhibitors’ presentations. Messe Düsseldorf has long had strong ties to the Plastindia Foundation. At the 2009 event, the German co-organiser will once again act as overseas associate, responsible for supporting European and North American exhibitors. PLASTINDIA will welcome visitors to the Pragati Maidan fairgrounds in New Delhi from 4 to 9 February and is recording robust demand. The upcoming edition will be about a fifth larger than its predecessor. A waiting list for exhibitors has already been created. Stand sizes are also expanding at PLASTINDIA 2009, where exhibitors from the machine building industry, in particular, want more space to highlight a selection of their innovations. Companies from Europe, Canada and the USA will occupy a net floor space of 4,300 square metres in Halls 12 and 12a as well as a temporary hall. Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and the UK will be represented by official national participations. International speakers at a two-day specialist conference on 5 and 6 February will train the spotlight on topical issues in the plastics and rubber industry. Some 100,000 trade visitors are anticipated at PLASTINDIA 2009.

It’s forecast that India will be the world’s third largest user of plastics and plastic products by 2010, reaching consumption of 12.5 million tonnes. An estimated 30,000 new processing machines and project investments worth USD 9.5 billion will be needed to meet this demand. Above all European suppliers, whose product and service quality is highly valued, are benefiting from these bright prospects. Demand will be focused particularly on high-performance machinery and equipment, cutting-edge technology in moulds and tools, innovative materials, process optimisation and quality-control systems as well as advisory services.

China is already one of the key markets for the international plastic and rubber industry. Applications for plastics and rubber have multiplied dramatically in industries including automotive engineering, information technology, electronics, packaging and construction. Current annual consumption of plastics exceeds 40 million tonnes while rubber consumption lies at just under four million tonnes.

Testifying to the importance of this enormous market is CHINAPLAS’ expansion to become the third largest event of its kind. In 2009, it will be hosted at Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 18 to 21 May. Organisers Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. foresee in the region of 1,900 exhibitors taking the floor on about 140,000 square metres of gross exhibition space. To ensure that visitors can quickly get their bearings, the trade fair will be subdivided into nine thematic areas: chemicals, raw materials, extrusion, injection moulding, moulds, tools, semi-finished products and auxiliary materials as well as accessories.

Yet again Messe Düsseldorf will be responsible for the official German participation in CHINAPLAS 2009 while its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf China Ltd. will be co-organiser of the event. It may still be early days but interest in the trade fair is already significant with joint presentations promising to take on a similar scale as at CHINAPLAS 2007 in Guangzhou. Then, 110 Germany companies stepped out on a net exhibition space of 3,200 square metres.

All four trade fairs – ArabPlast, INTERPLASTICA, PLASTINDIA and CHINAPLAS – will be supported by the Fachverband Kunststoff- und Gummimaschinen im VDMA (association for plastics and rubber machinery within the VDMA) as well as the European Committee of Machinery Manufacturers for the Plastics and Rubber Industries (EUROMAP).