Business News
Over 30 and more popular than ever
Monday 04. October 2010 - Extensively informed: 1,351 exhibitors + special shows; Economy picking up: good demand for packaging and technology
Fach Pack 2010 – from 28-30 September in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg – has grown slightly at the start of its fourth decade, which only highlights its advantages more clearly. 1,351 exhibitors (2009: 1,338) at the Trade Fair for Packaging Solutions and its PrintPack (packaging processing) and LogIntern (packaging logistics) segments expect some 34,000 visitors (2009: 33,848). Heike Slotta, Exhibition Director at NürnbergMesse: “Im sure there will be an excellent range of products plus encouraging prospects for business. FachPack will live up to its good reputation as one of the most important European packaging exhibitions once again in 2010.”
The efficient German packaging industry is strongly represented in Nürnberg with 1,068 companies. Another 283 companies, mainly from the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, France and Belgium, also showcase their products and services. The successful Nürnberg exhibition trio impresses again in 2010 with its unique atmosphere, in which information and contact care are just as important as answering the visitors specific technical questions.
Complete packaging process chain at one exhibition
FachPack presents a powerful range of packaging materials, supplies and ancillaries. Well over 500 exhibitors emphasize FachPacks recognized expertise especially in this segment. Around one-third of the exhibitors in Nürnberg are present with packaging technology. Other products include the important labelling and marking equipment and products for packaging recycling and package testing. The 181 exhibitors in the PrintPack segment show products geared to packaging processing: from pre-press, packaging design and package and label printing to packaging supplies production and print processing. LogIntern offers packaging logistics solutions and 258 companies are registered with products in this segment. The scene in the LogIntern halls is dominated by conveying, loading, storage and order-picking systems, software for material flow, and control, identification and coding systems.
International packaging specialists welcome in Nürnberg
The creative working atmosphere at FachPack is catching and attracts more and more international visitors. They come mainly from the neighbouring countries of Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and France. German and international visitors come mainly from industries such as food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, packaging- and logistics-related services, automotive engineering and components, chemicals, printing and paper processing, electrical equipment manufacture and plastic processing.
Theme of 2010 exhibition: sustainable production and packaging
Sustainability in the ecological, economic and social sense is the common theme of this years exhibition: from the exhibitors products, the Corrugated Cardboard Forum and the German Packaging Award to the special show on “Sustainable Production and Packaging”. In a practical presentation on approx. 1,200m², 20 companies from the technology, packaging supplies production, packaging logistics and recycling segments show their new products for facing the challenges of climate change and scarcer resources, and how visitors can implement these without problems in their own companies.
Germany: slight improvement of the packaging market in 2010
Following a moderate drop in production and revenues in 2009, the production volume of the German packaging manufacturers experienced an encouraging slight upward trend again in the first half of 2010. Rising raw material costs continue to cause concern, however. The production quantity of packaging supplies in 2009 dropped by 5.7% to 17.7 million tons (2008:18.8) and revenues declined by 9.4% to 28.4 billion euros (2008:31.3), according to the Gemeinschaftsausschuss Deutscher Verpackungshersteller (GADV), the German packaging manufacturers association. In quantity terms, packaging of paper, cardboard and paperboard with 8.5 million tons accounted for the largest share of packaging supplies again in 2009, followed by plastics (3.8), glass (almos t3.8) and metal (1.6). In terms of production value, plastic packaging led with 12.5 billion euros, corresponding to some 44% of the market volume, followed by paper and paperboard (8.9 billion = a good 31%), metal (5.3 billion = almost 19%) and glass (1.7 billion = 6%). Some 2% of the product value is attributed to the package in Germany, a figure that rises to as much as 7 to 8% in packaging-intensive industries like the food industry.
Orders for packaging machinery picking up
The many years of continuous growth in the packaging machinery sector came to an abrupt halt in 2009 due to the financial and economic crisis. Production volume sank by 18% to 4.4 billion euros (2008: 5.4), about the level of 2006. With this drop, the sector got off lightly compared with overall machinery construction, which lost just under a quarter of the previous production value.
The rising demand for packaging machinery since the end of 2009 has intensified further. The order books for this sector, one of the largest in the machinery construction industry, grew by 17% in the first half of 2010. This was attributed mainly to orders from abroad, which increased by 27% over the weak figure of the previous year, particularly due to the positive development in the heavily populated emerging countries of China and India. The demand from Latin America, especially Brazil, is picking up at the same time. The about 300 German companies in the packaging machinery sector employ some 28,000 people and achieve an average of well over 80% of their sales from foreign business. Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the VDMA-Fachverband Nahrungsmittel- und Verpackungsmaschinen (Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association): “If the order books continue to develop positively, we expect sales over the whole year to increase in the single-digit percentage range.”
Undisputed world export champion
The export volume of packaging machinery in 2009 dropped by around one-quarter to just under 4.0 billion euros (2008:5.3). Exports to the USA, the most important single market, plunged disproportionatelyby 34%. Exports to Russia, the second most important sales market, shrank by 39%. The slump in deliveries to Russia and the Ukraine enabled the export region of Asia, with a share of 17% of total exports in 2009, to overtake Eastern Europe (16.8%). After Western Europe (34%), Asia is now the second most important export region for packaging machinery from Germany. Exports to Asia rose by a total of 22% from 2005 to 2009. German companies currently supply more than one-third of all packaging machinery imported to Asia.
The German packaging machinery sector also maintained its undisputed leading role in the world market in the crisis year 2009. Germany with a share of 34% of world exports still leads ahead of Italy (almost 27%) and the USA (5%). The decisive factors are the unchanged large sums invested in research and development, the excellently qualified workforce, the use of the latest production technologies and the systematic orientation to different customer profiles.