Machinery News

European machinery makers predict a downward trend
At its recent annual general meeting in Bologna, Italy, Euromap, the European trade organisation for plastics and rubber equipment, said that the outlook for 2009 looked bleak.

Based on inputs from Assocomaplast and VDMA, the Italian and German plastics and rubber machinery associations, which together account for a 70% share of production within Euromap, the production of core machinery will decline by 3-5% in 2009. This situation is expected to worsen due to the unpredictable turmoil in the financial sector, said Bernhard Merki, President of the association and CEO of Netstal.

However, this year, production is expected to grow by 5% with a volume increase of EUR18.2 billion and a more than 50% share of the global market. According to Merki, this is due to the orders taken in 2007 and the start of 2008. Core machinery, which has the biggest chunk of the pie (62.8%), should increase by 6%, while moulds and dies will remain at the last year's levels. Auxiliary/peripherals are expected to grow by 8% and flexographic printing by 11%. The use of production capacities in the first half of 2008 was also at a high level.

In spite of the dismal projection, Merki said that based on the technical and quality strengths of the European industry, the manufacturers are “fit for the future.” Euromap also rolled out its Pro Original campaign at the meeting, aimed at promoting the value of purchasing original equipment and helping in the fight against the theft of intellectual property.

Merki, was re-elected as President of Euromap with Luciano Anceschi, Managing Director of Tria, elected as Vice-President and Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association within VDMA, confirmed as Secretary General.