German plastics and rubber machinery association VDMA has voiced its confidence in the Iranian 46 German suppliers planned to attend the Iranplast rubber & plastics show in Tehran Sept. 24-26.
The association said in a statement that German machinery suppliers had “good reasons” to be optimistic about Iranplast, including “the easing of the sanctions and the increasing opening of the country [to foreign investors].”
In the first half of 2017, German machinery exports to Iran rose over 140 percent to 22.9 million euros ($27.2 million euros), compared to the first six months of 2016 which saw 9.3 million euros ($11 million) worth of export to the country.
VDMA noted that within the first six months of 2016, sanctions had already been eased against Iran.
“The mere market forecasts suggest further growth,” said Thorsten Kühmann, managing director of the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association.
“However, we are also familiar with the ongoing problems,” said Kühmann.
According to the official, political conditions remain difficult in the country while financial facilities are insufficient.
Iran's market potential is obvious by looking at the levels of Chinese exports to the country.
According to VDMA figures, in 2016, China exported 149 million euros ($177.1 million) worth of plastics and rubber machinery up 15.2 percent from the previous year.
China led the list of suppliers to Iran, followed by Germany last year.
“Under the given general conditions and the expectation that the Iranian market is developing slowly but surely, the German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers overall look optimistically into the future,” VDMA said.
Since 2015, VDMA has organized an Iran Management Meeting for its members.
According to the association, this year about 20 member companies of the VDMA met in the run-up to the Iranplast to exchange information on the future topics Industry 4.0 and the circular economy.
