The organisers of the "Composites Europe" trade show in Düsseldorf (7-9 October 2014; www.composites-europe.com) – organised by Reed Exhibitions Germany (Düsseldorf; www.reedexpo.de) and the German Federation of Reinforced Plastics (AVK, Frankfurt; www.avk-tv.de) – can be well satisfied with this year’s results. The show, which is held alternately in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, was larger not only than last year’s event in Stuttgart, but also, in direct comparison, bigger than the one in Düsseldorf in 2012. 419 exhibitors (2012: 392) from 27 countries and 10,186 visitors (8,131) came to the exhibition, 45% of them from abroad.

For the AVK, this year’s show also marked a major change as it was the last time that the simultaneously organised conference was staged solely under the name of the federation. At the 10th Composites Europe in Stuttgart from 22-24 September 2015, the umbrella organisation Composites Germany (Berlin; www.composites-germany.org), which was founded in 2013, will take over the management functions. The event will then be called the "Composites Germany Conference".

The focus in Düsseldorf – as in previous years – was on the optimisation of processes suitable for large-volume production, in particular for the automotive industry. "Especially thermoplastics are profiting to an above-average extent from new applications and the current dynamic market in Europe," said AVK managing director Elmar Witten (see Plasteurope.com of 15.10.2014). During the show, he was confirmed as spokesman for the management of Composites Germany, and Michael Effing as its chairman.

Accounting for more than a third of the exhibitors, machine manufacturers were again strongly represented – in contrast to raw material producers. BASF and DSM, for example, did not put in an appearance at all. The major Chinese glass fibre suppliers, Jushi, CPIC and Taishan, as well as their distributors were also conspicuous by their absence. So, too, was the industry giant, OCV. Above all, the expectation that the European price structure would be shaken up by Jushi’s Egyptian GF production through the partial removal of anti-dumping duties has not so far materialised. Nevertheless, despite the imminent decline in growth towards the end of the year, the general mood was good, driven by the current expansion of the industry in markets such as Germany, UK, eastern Europe and Turkey.