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Mar 1st, 2008                                Print this article

Record return to Shanghai for Chinaplas

By Stephen Moore

Processors do not want to be caught out by legislation that forces unreasonable demands on the plastics industry.

Maguire introduces its GlassVU transparent vacuum loading system to the Asian market. Chinese machinery manufacturers such as Haitian will make their global presence felt at Chinaplas. Materials will once again feature heavily at Chinaplas.

“Bigger than ever” has become a recurring theme for the Chinaplas Show. Returning to Shanghai in April 2008, organizers expect a presence of 1700 international exhibitors occupying floor space of 120,000m². With all 11 halls at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in Pudong fully occupied, organizers have resorted to construction of temporary halls to accommodate the demand from plastics industry players seeking a presence at the show and to facilitate concurrent activities. Chinaplas 2008 will be 30% larger than last year in terms of area. Further, organizers expect 63,000 industry professionals will visit Chinaplas this time, including 11,000 from overseas.

Visitors to Chinaplas also can be certain that there will be an abundance of machinery on show—1600 machines in all—much of it operating and with a good dose of cutting-edge technology on display. “After K in Düsseldorf, Chinaplas is the most attractive technological show of our sector, especially because of the number of machinery and auxiliaries exhibited by worldwide manufacturers,” according to Claudio Celata, exhibition issues coordinator of Euromap (European Committee of Machinery Manufacturers for the Plastics and Rubber Industries), which is a sponsor of Chinaplas.

Strong economic prospects

Continued strong interest in Chinaplas is buoyed by the nation’s continued and expanding role as the world’s workshop. GDP growth of 10.4% is forecast for 2008, industrial output continues to grow at double-digit rates, and exports also keep growing at a double-digit pace despite the strengthening yuan. Analysts expect export growth of 17% this year; while impressive, that actually is lower than the 26% growth that was estimated for 2007. Factors behind this slowdown are a deceleration in the U.S. economy and the removal of export incentives for some manufactured goods. Analysts also forecast the yuan to appreciate some 6% this year after a 5% appreciation in 2007, and 2.8% in 2006.

China also remains the largest destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asia. In 2006, the Mainland attracted $69 billion in FDI, while the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) attracted $43 billion. Some provinces in the middle and western regions of the country received higher FDI inflows than in previous years, while in the more advanced regions such as the Pearl River and the Yangtze River Deltas, investments have been shifting toward higher-value-added activities such as computer peripherals and telecom equipment, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2007. An increasing number of trans-national corporations have also established regional headquarters in Beijing and Shanghai.

China is also playing its part in overseas investment. In recent years, it has established economic and trade cooperation zones in Nigeria, Mauritius, Zambia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Plastics expand

Output of the country’s plastics industry, meanwhile, grew by over 27% in the first half of 2007, while exports grew by more than 18%. The mainland remains an attractive market. This is highlighted by recent investments in machinery and materials manufacturing by local and global players. Basell, for example, recently began construction of its second polypropylene compounding line in China in Nansha, Guangzhou Province, to serve the automotive and appliances industries in Southern China, with a capacity of 15,000 tonnes/yr. “This initial capacity can be easily expanded to more than 50,000 tonnes/yr based on future demand growth,” says Frank Noeltgen, Basell’s VP for automotive in Asia Pacific. The Nansha facility is scheduled to come onstream in September 2008. Chinese automobile production was set to surge by 25% in 2007 to about 7 million vehicles.

Among exhibits will be the Chinese Export Machinery & Materials Zone, the gateway for local Chinese enterprises to expand their activities in the international business arena. At present, this hall occupies 23,000m2.

Machinery manufacturers who offered an advance view of their Chinaplas exhibits include Maguire (Aston, PA), which offers the Asian debut of its GlassVu vacuum loading system. These have a new design that provides a full view of resin loading and consumption and is said to ease materials’ discharge and the unit’s access for draining and cleanout, and to simplify installation.

Brampton Engineering (Brampton, ON) will showcase its ISOtherm die, which allows processing of multilayer film structures using materials with vastly different melting points; temperature isolation up to 150°C between adjacent layers enables coextrusion of temperature-sensitive materials such as PVdC, EVOH and others. BE AquaFrost technology also on show allows for the use of more cost-efficient PA 6 instead of PA 6/66 in thermoformable films while improving optical properties and thermoformability when replacing blown films.

RJG (Traverse City, MI) will highlight its Press Fit Cavity Pressure Sensor as a tool to analyze temperature variation inside the actual mold cavity. These sensors work in conjunction with RJG’s eDART Process Control System to assist molders in diagnosing processing problems relating to temperature issues, such as broken heater bands or blocked water channels.

Chen Hsong (Hong Kong) will prominently feature its Supermaster TP-series of true two-platen injection molding machines. Mix and match of injection units and clamping units is offered, while clamp movement is rated at 750 mm/sec.

Seminars and summits

During the exhibition period, besides technical seminars and forums, new concurrent activities also will be launched. The China-U.S. Plastics Industry Summit, which will be jointly organized by Adsale Exhibition Services, the China Plastics Processing Industry Assn., and the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI), will address Sino-U.S. market development trends and the exploration of more bilateral trading opportunities. The trade summit is to feature sessions on an overview of U.S. and Chinese market development trends, resources for a successful partnerships, challenges facing the development of the plastics industries in both countries, and approaches to U.S.-China collaboration, plus highlight success stories. The U.S. plastic industry exported $2.8 billion to China in 2006, its third-largest export market behind Canada and Mexico. U.S. exports to China continue to grow, at more than 112% in the three-year period from 2003 to 2006.

As the show will be held just four months prior to the opening of the Beijing Olympics, the show will display new concepts of plastics applications in the sports industry, including stadium construction. An estimated $35 billion has been spent on Olympics infrastructure in the four-year lead up to the event, but this is only a drop in the bucket of $5 trillion in total fixed-asset investment in China over the same period.

Chinaplas fast facts

Where? Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Pudong, Shanghai, China

When? April 17–20, 2008

How many? About 1700 exhibitors; more than 65,000 visitors

How big? 120,000m2

Machines on show: About 1600

National pavilions:

Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Taiwan Province, UK, and U.S.A.

Registration: Register online at www.chinaplasonline.com for free admission and a complimentary show catalog.

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