Coming in at third place in the export ranking, Russia and Eastern Europe remains one of the most important markets for the German manufacturers of plastics and rubber machinery. According to figures provided by the VDMA (German Engineering Federation), Germany exported about €96.7 million worth of machinery for plastics and rubber to Russia in the first three quarters of 2009, a drop of almost 50% in comparison to the figures from the same period last year. Before the global economic crisis, sales in the region had seen years of steady growth. Bernd Nötel from the association for plastics and rubber machinery, a division of VDMA, confirmed that there are signs of a new wind. “The positive prevailing mood at INTERPLASTICA – even amongst many first-time exhibitors – is very significant especially in the year of the world’s largest trade fair in the industry, K 2010. And it shows that the commercial customers in Russia are still very interested in investing in modern technology in order to be able to keep up with the competition. However, financing the planned investments remains a key issue.“
Alessio Fineo from the Italian plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers association Assocomaplast confirmed the optimism expressed by his German counterparts – albeit somewhat more cautiously. “Although the number of Italian exhibitors has dropped in comparison to last year, the companies represented here have reported having made excellent contacts and are very satisfied. Overall, the signs show that the market is recovering, but the industries which our customers are in are too diverse to draw any general conclusions. One sector showing very crisis-resistant development is medical products.“ The Russian market is also very important to the Italian manufacturers in the industry, who are the second-largest supplier of machinery to the region.
The next INTERPLASTICA is scheduled to take place from 25 - 28 January 2011 in Moscow and will once again be held in parallel to UPAKOVKA/UPAK ITALIA.
