The organizers of Plastimagen México 2010, one of Latin America's largest plastics industry events, say exhibitor numbers, floor space and attendees at this year's 16th edition will be similar to those of two years ago, the last time the show was held.
Scheduled for March 23-26, the show expects about 800 companies from 21 countries to occupy 290,000 square feet of Mexico City's Banamex Center.
“We expect 30,000 professionals to attend, including 7,000 staff from exhibiting companies and 23,000 visitors,” said Laura Barrera, director of the industrial division of E.J. Krause de México SA de CV. In 2007 Krause bought the show from Mexican firm Oprex SA de CV for about $5 million.
About 90 percent of the attendees will be from Latin America, she said. The largest group of exhibitors at this year's show (35-40 percent) will be machinery and equipment manufacturers, she added.
Imports of plastics processing machinery by companies in Mexico in the first half of 2009 fell 15 percent, compared with the same period in 2008, according to Guillermo Salas, president of Mexico's national plastics industry association, Asociacón Nacional de Industrias del Plastico AC, or Anipac.
They are the latest statistics available. One company representing European and Canadian thermoforming equipment makers recently told Plastics News it had not sold a single machine in Mexico for two years.
Salas said the situation will quickly improve because the U.S. economy, to which Mexico is closely tied, “is showing signs of recovery.” Salas is managing director of his own company, Industrias Plasticas Maximo SA de CV, which imports machinery from China into Mexico.
China and Taiwan each will have a pavilion at this year's show, as will India (for the first time), Germany, Austria, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Spain, the United States, Italy and France. The Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. will operate a technology pavilion.
Salas will visit Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador during several days in early February to promote Plastimagen, said Alfredo López Machorro, Anipac's managing director.
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