Four major trade associations in Germany this week announced the formation of Composites Germany, a new umbrella organization that they created to strengthen the composites industry in the country. It will also replace AVK within the EuCIA European composites industry association.
The AVK Federation of Reinforced Plastics, the CCeV carbon composites industry association, the CFK-Valley Stade carbon fiber cluster and the Composite Technology Forum of the VDMA association of German plastics and rubber machinery made the official announcement at the Composites Europe fair on Sept. 18.
The association will be headquartered in Berlin, chosen because it will allow the group to build up its political contacts with German government ministers. The organization will, starting next year, organize a regular "composites evening" for members of parliament.
Internationally, Composites Germany will replace AVK's membership within the EuCIA European composites industry association in order to develop a wider political network.
The association says it will push for a larger share of the state support cake for composites industry projects, in Europe as well as nationally. It will also focus on high performance composites, automated production techniques and training.
With its website already up and running, Composites Germany says it will also work for more transparency in the composites market. For example, it will publish a six-monthly industry report containing market reports from AVK and CCeV.
AVK Chairman Michael Effing was elected chairman and will hold the post for a year. The other board members are Axel Hermann (CFK-Valle Stade), Reinhard Janta (carbon fiber producer SGL Carbon on behalf of CCeV), Frank Peters (KraussMaffei, on behalf of VDMA's Forum Composites Technology) and Elmar Witten (AVK managing director).
