The edition of 2012, after twenty years of absence, was already a great success that today is, not only confirmed, but largely exceeded just by first assignments. Rubber has a special value within Plast because it reflects the diversity and specificity of the rubber industry, both in terms of technology and target markets. The fair will represent, in a moment of generalized but not specific to the sector crisis, a meeting point to discuss, exchange knowledge and share technology also from the perspective of the internationalization. At this time in history, when are so many exhibitions which are lagging, and sometime closing their doors, Rubber 2015 shows an increase of spaces occupied of approximately a 30% compared to 2012. A first result that can only comforts as a witness of the vitality of the elastomers‘ sector. „Rubber 2015 will be a showcase for the entire sector of rubber, from raw materials to compounds, to finished products, obviously without excluding machines, equipments and laboratory instruments, that will represent a special attraction.“ Says Fabio Bertolotti, Director of Assogomma „for the 2015 edition of Rubber, for the first time Assogomma will directly manage the applications and assignments, through its own service company, Sviluppo Servizi Gomma srl and with Promaplast, organizer of Plast 2015, marking a valuable sectoral collaboration in the interest of the Company.“ Rubber 2015 will represent a meeting place to discuss and exchange knowledge and technology also in terms of internationalization. The italian rubber sector, in fact, is an historical one in the view of the manufacture in Italy with many companies that implies more than 30.000 workers. The production is wide spread and goes from tyres to general rubber goods (GRG) with excellences in each sector with the ability to export the most part of their own production making, also in this sector, the „made in Italy“ concept a synonymous of high-end technology, design and good practice. „Rubber 2015 is a unique opportunity for the entire rubber industry“, said the Director of Assogomma Fabio Bertolotti, „the autonomy of the rubber sector has always been a guarantee of success and we are confident that we can repeat the good results of the past once again thanks the extraordinary opportunity presented by Expo 2015 , a showcase for the world to put on display excellence in the field of elastomers.“
Plast 2015 is taking place at a particularly important moment for Italy, and especially for Milan. It will take place on 5 to 9 May, just after the inauguration of Expo 2015 (1 May – 31 October 2015), which is within walking distance of Plast at the Fiera Milano fairgrounds in Rho. This overlap has led to expectations by operators of higher visitor flows, producing an indubitably positive outcome for business. The number of confirmed exhibitors has already exceeded 1,200 (+3.9% with respect to the same period three years ago) and applications continue to arrive.
Italian Industry for machinery, moulds and equipment for plastics and rubber
Assocomaplast (the Italian trade association belonging to Confindustria, which groups to-gether over 160 makers of machinery, moulds and equipment for plastics and rubber) has completed the year 2014 balance sheet for the sector, incorporating ISTAT foreign trade data.
Progress in exports maintained a constant pace to the end of the year, sustaining Italian machinery manufacturers in a period where the domestic market showed only timid signs of recovery in the very recent months. In effect, although there was a noticeable increase in purchases from abroad – on the order of 8 percentage points over the entire year, in statistical terms – the propensity towards investment by converters remained limited into the final quarter of 2014. Assocomaplast, according to surveys among its members, estimated a value of production that again touched the threshold of 4 billion euros. The trade balance has further increased in a positive direction, going well beyond the 2-billion-euro threshold, with the domestic market just under that level.
The most recent survey by the association also highlighted a generally optimistic outlook among approximately one third of the interviewed companies, who expect further increases in orders and turnover in the current half year. A similar percentage also expects the export share to increase. Regarding the destinations for foreign sales of Italian machinery, a clear and progressive in-crease is noted for European countries – within the EU, while the total trade with extra-EU countries has fallen off, dragged down by the negative performance in Russia (-11.9%) partially as a result of the sanctions applied in response to the Ukraine crisis and the collapse of the ruble – and NAFTA, thanks to increases in exports to the United States. The lacklustre trend in sales to Brazil (-11% with respect to 2013) conditioned the overall performance in South America while an upswing in supplies to Chinese converters (as well as to Vietnamese, Indonesian and Indian, just to mention some of the most significant cases) com-pensated a slow-down to South Korea, Japan and Thailand. Thanks to the above-mentioned positive trend in imports from Italy, the United States (+21.5%) took second place from France (-10.4%, now in third place) among destination markets, while Germany, in keeping with established tradition, remained in first place by a wide margin (albeit somewhat decreased). A look at the main types of machines again shows positive performance for blow-moulding machines and flexographic printing machines (+11.6% and +11.1%, respectively). The export value of extruders remained essentially stable with respect to the previous year while injection-moulding machines showed a clear downturn (-16%). Moulds continued to perform well (especially injection types), representing over 28% of total exports for the sector.
At A Glance
Plast and Rubber 2015
Opening Hours:
May 5/8 (Tuesday/Friday), from 10 am to 6 pm
May 9 (Saturday) from 10 am to 4 pm
Ticket information:
visitatori.plast@fieramilano.it,
tel +39 02 49976144
Exhibition Area:
Fiera Milano Fairgrounds, Strada Statale 33 del Sempione, 28 – 20017 Rho (Milan)
