The 27th "Plast Eurasia" (www.plasteurasia.com) trade fair will be held in Istanbul / Turkey from 6-9 December 2017. Organiser Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions (Istanbul; www.tuyap.com.tr) says the fair is expected to attract about 50,000 visitors. In 2016, the event had 48,725 visitors from 84 countries (see Plasteurope.com of 09.01.2017). Most of the 120,000 m² indoor exhibition area has already been booked out.

Plast Eurasia is co-organised by Turkey’s plastics industry association Pagev (Istanbul; www.pagev.org.tr). According to Pagev, the Turkish plastics sector is one of the most important pillars of the country's economy, and in 2016, the plastics industry had a production value of USD 35 bn (around EUR 30 bn). According to Pagev, 8.2m t of plastic end products were produced last year. If the positive trends continue, Pagev research forecasts manufacturing of plastic end products will increase to 9.4m t, and USD 35.5 bn, at the end of 2017.

Exports of plastic products increased by 1.8% to reach an export volume of 798,000 t by the end of June 2017, worth USD 2.86 bn. Pagev predicts that the Turkish plastics industry will continue to witness further rapid growth over the years. On the other hand, too little private investment, including from abroad, dependence on imported plastic raw materials and little added value are weaknesses that the sector is still faced with (see Plasteurope.com of 26.06.2017).