Messe Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.messe-duesseldorf.de) has expanded its portfolio and now that the sanctions have been lifted, has set its sights on Iran. The organiser of the triannual mega-plastics fair “K” (www.k-online.com), the next edition of which will be held in Düsseldorf / Germany from 19-26 October 2016, has signed a cooperation with state-owned National Petrochemical Company (NPC, Tehran / Iran; www.nipc.ir) to collaborate on the upcoming "Iran Plast" (www.iranplast.ir) fair, held in Tehran from 13-17 April 2016. Under the terms of the deal, Messe Düsseldorf will be responsible for organising and implementing the international exhibitors.

Held biannually, next year’s Iran Plast will mark the fair’s 10th edition. The last event, held in 2014, drew 800 exhibitors – including 250 from abroad – as well as 68,000 visitors. The fair saw special delegations from Armenia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and the UAE. Iran Plast is sponsored by the Iran Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) as well as the Iran International Exhibition Company (IIEC).

Messe Düsseldorf said that now that the sanctions against Iran have been lifted, it expects international trade relations to increase significantly. Demand for machines and equipment for the plastics and rubber industries is anticipated to rise greatly, as the country endeavours to overcome the backlog that the sanctions have left it with.

According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net), Iran’s installed monomer capacities come to almost 14m t/y. Its nominal plastics capacity exceeds 6m t/y – consisting of 5.8m t/y of standard plastics, and NPC alone is involved in about 85% of the latter activities. If all current plans are realised, a sizeable amount of additional PE capacity could be brought on stream in the country in the coming years (see also Plasteurope.com of 17.07.2015).

This is not the only foreign engagement on the part of Messe Düsseldorf. The fair organiser also hosts and organises several plastics and rubber trade fairs abroad, including the “interplastica” in Moscow / Russia, “Indoplas” in Jakarta / Indonesia, as well as “T-Plast” in Bangkok / Thailand. Aside from that, Messe Düsseldorf also plays a supporting role at several other leading plastics events, including “Arabplast”, “Chinaplas” and “Plastindia”.