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Machine buyers go high-tech


The global injection machinery market peaked in 2011 with sales of 94,320 units, according to Engel CEO Dr Peter Neumann. He sees no return to that level within the next decade, but says the story behind the declining numbers is one of a worldwide shift to higher perfor- mance and more productive processing equipment. Speaking at a special pre-K meeting at the com-


pany’s headquarters in Schwertberg in Austria, Neumann said global injection moulding machinery sales had fallen to 88,600 units in 2012 and was likely to amount to no more than 84,000 units by 2020. “Between 1990 and 2011 we saw a big growth in numbers of injection machines but since then we have seen no further growth,” he said. The biggest decline in the numbers of injection machines sold can be seen in China, according to Neumann. Sales in the country fell from 50,000 units in 2011 to 45,000 units in 2012; Engel predicts that by 2020 the number will have fallen even further to around 35,000 units (see Figure 1). While part of this decline can be attributed to


general weakening in Chinese demand, Neumann said there is also a clear trend among Chinese processors towards investment in higher effi ciency machines capable of providing greater outputs. As a result, he said there has been no interruption in demand for European technology from Chinese machine buyers. Asia remains by far the largest injection moulding machinery market, both in unit terms and by value


Engel estimates the Asian market to be worth around €3.19bn compared to €1.34bn for Europe and €896m


www.injectionworld.com


The global injection moulding market is shifting to higher technology, says Engel CEO Dr Peter Neumann. Chris Smith listened to his analysis of worldwide machine trends


for America, see Figure 2. The trend to more productive machinery is being seen in all key world markets, said Neumann, although the impact on unit numbers outside of China is less dramatic. In Europe, for instance, he said 2012 sales amounted to 11,300 units, down from 12,340 in 2011. He predicts European unit sales will edge up slightly to reach around 14,000 units by 2020. However, he said this will be accompanied by moves towards higher cavitation production and, as a result, to more costly unit investments. “In Europe, the most stable industries are medical and packaging. The others are more dependent on the other world economies and the European economy and the most sensitive of these is automotive,” said Neumann. North America, which saw sales drop from pre-eco- nomic crisis levels of more than 5,000 machines a year to a low of 1,300, recovered to 3,400 units in 2012 and Neumann said the real and ongoing trend of manufac- turing moving back to the US from China should help


Main image: Engel has


invested €70m in its manufac- turing opera- tions over two years, includ- ing its produc- tion site at its HQ at


Schwertberg


September 2013 | INJECTION WORLD 39


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