Russia’s “interplastica 2017” trade fair (www.interplastica.de) held from 24 to 27 January and the “Upakovka” packaging fair (www.upakovka-tradefair.com), staged in parallel once again, together attracted some 23,000 trade visitors to Moscow. Organiser Messe Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.messe-duesseldorf.de) reports that this was some 2,100 more than last year. Around 800 (previous year: 828) companies from 33 countries presented their products and services.

This is certainly a remarkable result, given the still difficult situation in Russia. After three years of steady decline, representatives of the key machinery supplier countries of Germany and Italy now feel that the turning point is in sight. “The ban on food imports has prompted increased investment in the domestic food industry, and the food that is produced in Russia then has to be packaged to get the best shelf life. As a consequence, business with German plastics and rubber machinery suppliers gained momentum once again in 2016. We are expecting a positive impact on sales and exports for 2017”, explained Thorsten Kühmann, Director of the German VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association (KuG, Frankfurt; http://kug.vdma.org). His colleague Mario Maggiani, Director of Italian machinery manufacturers association Assocomaplast (www.assocomaplast.com), sees “evidence of a clear recovery, providing there is no sharp drop in the price of oil.”

The keen interest in innovative technologies at interplastica was reflected by the huge numbers flocking not only to the exhibitors’ stands but also to the new “3D fab+print Russia” platform. For the first time, Russian and international experts presented developments, opportunities and challenges associated with additive manufacturing technologies.

Overall deliveries of plastics machinery to Russia have declined over the past few years. In 2015, their total value came to around EUR 570m, or 13.7% less than the year before. German deliveries also shrank for the third year running from January to November 2016, reaching only EUR 73.3m, which was 38.2% down on the same period the previous year. Despite this, with a market share of just under 24%, Germany still remains the most important supplier ahead of China (13%) and Italy (9.2%).

The next interplastica will be held in Moscow as usual, from 23 to 26 January 2018.