Plast 2015
| exhibition preview
The Plast 2015 exhibition takes place in Milan next month as the Italian economy fi nally shows some signs of sustained, if modest, growth
The timing is right for Plast
The Italian economy has struggled to recover from the economic downturn, recording only one quarter of positive GDP growth over the past three years. Even so, as the third largest Euro-zone economy, it remains a key market for the plastics industry in both processing terms and equipment supply. And that is refl ected in the international prominence of the triennial Plast trade fair, which serves as a meeting point for Italian processors as well as a shop window for the country’s plastics machinery and ancillary equipment providers – many of which are world leaders in their fi elds. Plast 2012 attracted more than 1,500 exhibitors and
in excess of 50,000 visitors to the Fiera Milano (Rho) fairground, according to show organiser Promoplast. Despite the intervening years of stagnation in the domestic economy, the show organiser is predicting a similarly strong, if not stronger, turnout for 2015, and hopes that attendance will be boosted by some additional footfall from visitors drawn to the Expo Milano, which opens nearby just one week before. Timing may prove fortuitous for the show. In its most
recent economic forecast, the OECD said it expects the Italian economy to return to growth by the middle of this year and to accelerate into 2016. Its forecast of 0.6% GDP growth for this year and 1.3% for next is still behind the average for the Euro-zone (1.4% and 2.0%) and a long way short of US performance (3.1% and 3.0%) but it is movement in the right direction. The plastics machinery sector may already be on
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that growth curve. Full year data from the Italian trade association Assocomaplast shows production of Italian
plastics machinery and moulds up by 2.6% in 2014 to €4.0bn while exports were up by 4.9% to around €2.7bn. Europe, Asia and NAFTA accounted for the majority of those exports (around 87%). Italy is also a signifi cant importer of plastics machinery and the Assocomaplast data showed an 8.5% increase in imports to a value of €640m, suggesting the investment sentiment among the country’s plastics processors is strengthening. Germany is the largest non-domestic supplier to the Italian industry. Data from the German machinery association VDMA shows sales
of plastics machinery to the country amounted to €130m in 2014. Over the next four pages, we take a look at some of
the materials and machinery innovations that will be on show in Milan.
API Hall 9 Stand C41
Italian compound producer API will be showing the latest additions to its range of bio-based thermoplas- tics, including the new Megol Bio TPE used by Italian technical moulder OMFI to make its latest range of bed slat supports.
Megol Bio TPEs use up to 25% renewable resources
and are 100% recyclable. The SEBS-based products provide good resistance to ageing and consistent elastic performance, making them well suited to applications
April 2015 | INJECTION WORLD 51 Milan’s
architecturally striking Rho fairground
hosts the Plast 2015 fair next month
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