The managing director of VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, Thorsten Kühmann, discusses his views on the market situation and Chinaplas 2020.
The current Chinese market
The industry trade fair has the potential to “provide a positive impulse” to the Chinese economy during the current coronavirus outbreak, according to Kühmann.
He explained how the outbreak “does not change the fundamental importance of the Chinese market for our industry in the future”, with how many member companies expecting the situation to slowly level off again in March.
Additionally, the German plastics machinery industry recorded a decline of about 6% in sales for last year, and trade barriers remain a problem: “Sales increases as a result of the investments will not occur before beginning of 2021. We therefore also expect a decline in sales in 2020 in the range of 2019,” he added.
No significant delivery problems so far due to coronavirus
VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association said the coronavirus outbreak has not yet led to significant delivery problems in the German mechanical engineering industry. However, due to the long throughput times in mechanical engineering, Kühmann believes it is possible that “these difficulties will only really become apparent in the coming weeks”.
Apart from slower production from many suppliers in other industries, the mechanical engineering companies are also facing the challenges of logistics restrictions. Currently, companies in Germany can still compensate for these difficulties by switching to other production locations or suppliers, but Kühmann claimed that “the situation must be reassessed from week to week”.
Chinaplas 2020
The industry trade fair Chinaplas 2020 has been rescheduled to take place from 3rd to 6th August 2020 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), in Hongqiao, Shanghai.
VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association is one of the co-organisers of the Chinaplas 2020 concurrent event “Industry 4.0 Factory of the Future”.