China has rapidly caught up with Europe’s plastics machinery industry over the past two decades, putting pressure on Germany’s once-dominant manufacturers, according to figures released by the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association VDMA.
Ahead of the K plastics fair which opens on Wednesday in Dusseldorf, the VDMA said China’s share of global sales of machinery for producing plastics and rubber has surged from 4% in 2000 to 32% in 2024.
Europe’s share fell by five percentage points to 43%, about half of which comes from Germany.
Ulrich Reifenhäuser of the VDMA said Germany had lost part of its core business to China, noting that Chinese manufacturers had been very successful in recent years.
Reifenhäuser said Chinese firms excel mainly in standard machinery, while high-tech machines still come from Europe, citing complex multilayer film systems as an example.
European output of plastics and rubber machinery reportedly totalled €17.7 billion ($20.6 billion) in 2023, half of it from Germany.
The United States, meanwhile, saw its share drop from 18% to 7%. Reifenhäuser said the country had forgotten how to build competitive machines, calling the decline an opportunity for German manufacturers.
His company employs some 1,500 people near the German city of Bonn and makes machines used to manufacture plastic films for packaging, such as yogurt cups.
About 3,200 exhibitors and more than 180,000 visitors are expected at this year’s K fair, which runs from Wednesday until October 15.
Source: dpa
Source: ghanabusinessnews.com
