PLAST-International Exhibition for Plastics and Rubber Industry is scheduled from Tuesday 5 to Friday 8 September 2023, at Fiera Milano exhibition center in Rho-Pero. There are 500 direct exhibitors who have joined the early bird phase which closed on 10 December, with 34,000 square meters booked. These data reinforce the prospect of an exhibition increasingly rich in innovative proposals thanks to professionals and companies from all over the world. Right from the start, the 2023 edition of PLAST is therefore confirmed as a success, strengthened by the three satellite-shows dedicated to as many supply chains of excellence in the sector, namely RUBBER, 3D PLAST and PLAST-MAT, demonstrating the dynamism of a market which expresses extremely positive values.
The core of the exhibition is the segment of machinery, auxiliary equipment, moulding for plastic and rubber processing, a sector that represents an important reality in the Italian manufacturing industry, with over 400 companies.
For this sector, the MECS study center of the Amaplast trade association estimates a substantially favorable balance for 2022 – after the rebound recorded in 2021, a year archived with double-digit increases for all indicators, confirming its ability to absorb repercussions of the serious critical issues that have arisen and overlapped in the last three years.
In fact, overall production should reach the threshold of 4.5 billion euros, with an increase of one percentage point compared to 2021: this is a limited change which however consolidates the recovery achieved last year, even surpassing by two points the value of 2019 (pre-pandemic).
Both components of demand are still growing, albeit slightly: on the one hand, exports, which absorb around 70% of production, show an increase of around 2%, until they once again exceed 3 billion, on the other hand internal market marks a +1%, also as a function of imports in progression of 5%.
Based on the most recent economic survey carried out among Amaplast associates, there has been a progressive attenuation of growth during this year. Both on the domestic and foreign markets, a more marked slowdown was observed for machinery, while sales and incoming orders for spare parts continued to grow.
The Italian manufacturers hope that at the end of the period the number of orders will increase, also thanks to the “K-effect”, with the Düsseldorf exhibition which could help to free up investments previously left on standby. However, entrepreneurs are cautious, in the light of the winds of war and the economic turbulence that characterize the global scenario.
Looking to 2023, it is likely to expect a fallback of all sector indicators, with a decrease, however, limited to a few percentage points. Moreover, the forecasts of Confindustria on the performance of the Italian economy as a whole indicate low or negative growth, against a still high rate of inflation, above all due to high energy costs.
The 2018 edition of PLAST, then stopped in its three-year cycle by the pandemic, recorded the presence of over 1,500 exhibitors who occupied an area of 55,000 m2 net, with over 63,000 visitors and a strong presence from abroad, confirming the internationality and the attractiveness of the event. PLAST is also established as a broad technological showcase, from materials to manufacturing processes, from finished products to services, to the most advanced solutions developed by manufacturers of machinery, equipment, auxiliaries, mouldings for working plastic and rubber, with over 3,500 units exhibited in the 6 occupied pavilions.
