International plastics and rubber industry confident in the Russian market

INTERPLASTICA 2009 Moscow tops exhibitors’ expectations

The global financial and economic crisis has clearly made an impact in Russia, where forecasts are subdued. For the plastics and rubber industry, however, long-term prospects are considered promising, with still huge potential for investments here and in neighbouring states. The Russian consumer goods and packaging industries are leading the way in efforts to sharpen their competitive edge in a climate of rising import prices. Although the current restricted access to loans has hampered investments in the short term, many companies are securing advantages by keeping abreast of innovative technologies while developing new business contacts; this will position them to act quickly as soon as the turmoil subsides.

This confident outlook prevailed at the region’s leading trade fair, INTERPLASTICA 2009, International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber. The good visitor response surpassed the expectations of exhibitors, who reported a host of interesting contacts and detailed business talks during the fair’s four-day run from 27 to 31 January. Trade visitors zeroed in on cutting-edge technologies and system solutions. Many brought solid background knowledge of the international industry offerings and specific enquiries with them to INTERPLASTICA.


20,500 industry professionals from the entire Russian Federation and many neighbouring countries flocked to INTERPLASTICA and its parallel event, the UPAKOVKA/UPAK ITALIA trade fair for packaging technology. Presentations by some 900 companies covered a net exhibition area of 19,000 square metres. “This puts the total number of visitors slightly below last year’s, but in view of today’s tough economic climate we were quite pleased with the outcome,” concludes Werner M. Dornscheidt, President and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, “Especially considering our exhibitors’ positive reactions to the contacts and business talks generated here, which exceeded their expectations. This underscores the role international trade fairs continue to play in creating significant business opportunities. Suppliers and customers alike recognise INTERPLASTICA as a central information exchange forum for the industry in Russia.”

The event was staged for the twelfth time at the Krasnya Presnya fairgrounds in Moscow by Messe Düsseldorf and its Russian subsidiary OOO Messe Düsseldorf Moscow. Mechanical engineers, raw materials producers, manufacturers of plastic and rubber products, logistics companies and service providers all showcased their offerings. Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Turkey boasted officially-backed national presentations. Germany with 149 companies, Russia with 147 and Italy with 102 took the top three spots among the exhibitor contingents. The enormous international presence, with companies hailing from a total of 30 countries, offered trade professionals the unique opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of innovations from every corner of the globe that are specially tailored to the Russian market. Exhibitors, in turn, made the most of their chance to gain valuable information straight from Russian customers as to their specific needs and development strategies.

Russia remains a vital market with interesting prospects for German manufacturers. Suppliers of machinery for the plastics and rubber industry in particular have gained substantial market shares here in recent years, with Germany now in the No. 1 position followed by Italy and China. Bernd Nötel of the association for plastics and rubber machinery, a division of VDMA (German Engineering Federation), confirms German companies’ optimism about the Russian market: “Despite the slowdown in business at the moment, we expect a continued rise in German exports to Russia in the long term. It is our third-largest export market; Germany exported about EUR 192 million worth of machinery for plastics and rubber to Russia in the first three quarters of 2008, which is just shy of the figures from the same period last year. We will probably not equal that in 2009, but German companies registered surprisingly high interest at INTERPLASTICA from the very first day.” This was the case for project investments of all dimensions. According to Nötel, one trend that is on the rise in other countries is also taking hold in Russia: Customers expect all-in solutions – complete production systems – from a single source, which has led many suppliers to join forces.

Mario Maggiani, deputy general manager of Assocomaplast, the Italian plastics and rubber machinery association, agrees: “The Russian market for machinery and systems to process plastics and rubber continues to be very attractive for Italian companies. After many years of growth, we are now experiencing an economic cooling-off period, but here we still find real buying interest. Italy is the second-largest supplier of machinery after Germany, with exports worth some EUR 206 million in 2007. We won’t quite match that in 2008, and we expect a downturn in 2009 as well. But the fact that well over 100 Italian exhibitors took part in INTERPLASTICA emphasises the confidence companies still have in this market despite the impact of the crisis.”

Additional interest was generated by RePlast 2009 and the conference “Technologies and Equipment for Plastics Processing”, events successfully staged by Russian trade magazines and Messe Düsseldorf Moscow.

The next INTERPLASTICA is slated for early 2010 in Moscow, once again alongside UPAKOVKA/UPAK ITALIA.
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