At the last edition of the trade fair duo comprising interplastica, International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber and upakovka – Processing & Packaging,  there were already signs that the Russian market was moving out of the trough again – at least for the plastics and rubber industries as well as for the packaging industry and related process industries. Both trade fairs held at the Central Exhibition Complex Expocentre in Krasnaya Presnya from 28 – 31 January substantiated this stabilisation. A total of 937 exhibitors from 40 countries attracted to the tune of 24,950 visitors mainly from Russia and the neighbouring states. The atmosphere in the halls was good. Exhibitors predominantly praised the high quality of leads.

Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, voiced his satisfaction with the course of interplastica 2020: "Russia continues to be an important market that is admittedly going through tough times but still experiencing plenty of movement. The interest taken in high-quality and innovative machinery, systems and materials continues to be high; companies want to invest and make efforts to also implement planned projects. Things are currently happening especially in terms of packaging, recycling and waste avoidance." He underlines: "Especially today, trade fairs have an important role to play as information platforms, networking meeting points and business engines. With their participation the exhibitors at interplastica have proven that they bet on sustainable customer relations management and have solutions specifically geared to the Russian market in their portfolios."

After very marked growth in the exports of German plastics and rubber machine to Russia in 2017 and 2018, VDMA's Association for Plastics and Rubber Machines report of strong export declines in 2019. This means the Russian market is one of the many countries that bought fewer German machines last year. Commenting on this Managing Director of the Association Thorsten Kühmann said: "Despite these developments, there is still a silver lining on the horizon of the Russian packaging sector. Due to the embargo on Western foods domestic production was ramped up substantially. To conserve these regional foodstuffs, however, packaging has also to be produced increasingly in Russia. Furthermore, recycling and the circular economy are gaining increasing importance in Russia. At K 2019 German companies already showed that they are extremely well positioned in this respect and can score points with their technologies."

It comes as no surprise therefore that the new "Recycling Solutions" segment with 50 highly specialised firms met with great approval at interplastica 2020. In the Recycling area Austria was particularly well represented among the exhibitors. In the accompanying panel discussions lectures on waste management in Russia and exhibitors' talks on the circular economy were very well received. Commenting on this, Harry Reichert, expert at the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association within VDMA, said: "The next few years will show whether the numerous declarations of intent will be followed by investment in collection and recycling so that successful business models can also be established across the board in this field."

Innovative technologies for all sectors of plastics processing are presented not only at the stands of the 680 interplastica exhibitors but also in the lectures and discussions at the Polymer Plaza in Hall 1 as well as in the special show 3D fab+print Russia. There Russian and international experts addressed developments in, and possibilities of additive manufacturing in technical talks and demonstrations.

The Italian professional association AMAPLAST emphasized visitors’ high technical competency. More than 60 Italian exhibitors participated in interplastica 2020, 40 of them as part of the joint pavilion organised by the association. Stefania Arioli, Marketing Manager at Amaplast, said: "The quality of our leads was good and the technical enquiries often very detailed. The vast majority of visitors came from Russia as well as Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The Russian market is currently not an easy place to work. Thanks to its longstanding presence at interplastica, however, Italian manufacturers have been constantly on site therefore allowing them to successfully develop this market." The lion's share of exports from Italian producers to Russia is accounted for by extruders and extrusion lines; these are assets with high value creation and often customised to customers’ specific needs.

 

The next interplastica in Moscow will be held from 26 to 29 January 2021, again concurrently with upakovka.