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[May 2006]
CERAMITEC 2006: Preliminary Report
Organiser Messe Muenchen GmbH (Munich, Germany) said that despite the concentration of events in the ceramic sector this year, CERAMITEC 2006 once again demonstrated its position as the leading international trade fair for the industry.
It was on Friday 19 May 2006 that the 10th International Trade Fair for Machinery, Equipment, Plant, Processes and Raw Materials for Ceramics and Powder Metallurgy drew to a close at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. The event attracted around 22,000 trade visitors from 106 countries - almost as many visitors as at CERAMITEC 2003, although the current CERAMITEC had been shortened by one day.
More than 50% of these trade visitors came from abroad. "No other fair is as international as CERAMITEC. No other event has such a balanced structure in its range. On four days of exhibition, CERAMITEC brings the global ceramics industry together in one place", said Eugen Egetenmeir, member of the managing board of Messe Muenchen.
According to the results of the survey by TNS Infratest, CERAMITEC's visitors included a high proportion of decision-makers (91%), with 66% of these in managerial positions. Over 70% of the exhibitors assessed the frequency of visitors to their stands as "good to excellent" and 86% thought likewise about the internationality of the customers.
The important international ceramics markets were in attendance in Munich - as is clearly shown by the visitor figures for the individual countries. Apart from Germany, the most trade visitors came from Italy followed by France, Turkey, Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Poland, Iran and Russia. There was great interest on the part of Asia too: for the first time, Koreans attended the fair and the number of Japanese increased many times over.
"This trade fair continues to be of great international importance; over 50% of the customers come from outside Europe, they are mainly decision-makers. Our most important objectives were to acquire new applications and orders, and we succeeded in that", said Karl Eping, Director of LAEIS GmbH from Luxembourg. The Japanese exhibitor Masayasu Izawa from Izawa Pigment thought the same: "CERAMITEC is definitely an international meeting point for the sector. One of our objectives is to get more customers in Europe and that's why we take advantage of CERAMITEC."
At CERAMITEC 2006, 612 exhibitors from 42 countries presented their products and services ranging from coarse and fine ceramics and raw materials production right down to the refractory industry and powder metallurgy. After Germany, Italy was the biggest exhibiting country internationally. The percentage from Asia and the Middle East increased as did the demand from Central and Eastern Europe. The market leaders made use of CERAMITEC to demonstrate the latest machinery, plant and processes. "CERAMITEC gave us the opportunity to introduce our new technologies", stated Daniel Burak Selamet, President of UNIMAK Machinery, Turkey.
Trade visitors gave a positive assessment of the synergies produced in connection with AUTOMATICA, which took place at the same time. Here they found suppliers in the related areas of packaging and materials handling technology, vacuum technology and test and measuring systems. Michael Zins, director of TASK, Germany, said: "In combination with AUTOMATICA, a great many talks were held about specific components from technical ceramics. Obviously there was a good transfer of visitors between the two fairs".
There was a positive response to the new CERAMITEC FORUM, which offered a platform for developments in the ceramics industry. "As the forum is integrated into the halls and has an open structure, the events are brought closer to the other activities at the fair. Expanding markets like India can thus introduce themselves to an international public", commented Rajesh Nath, Director of the Indian representative office of the Verband Deutscher
Maschinen- und Anlagenbau eV (VDMA).The next CERAMITEC takes place in 2009.
www.ceramitec.de
ENDS