On the eve of K 2010, Germany’s VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association (KuG, Frankfurt; www.kug.vdma.org) has raised its sales forecast for 2010 to 15% year-on-year, up from the 11% forecast earlier – see Plasteurope.com of 07.09.2010. The mood at the machinery manufacturers’ presentations at the fair “will be upbeat,” said association chairman Ulrich Reifenhäuser, who heads extrusion specialist Reifenhäuser (Troisdorf / Germany; www.reifenhauser.com).

The upturn that began in Q4 2009 has continued apace and from January to August 2010, orders for German plastics and rubber machinery rose 77% against the 2009 period, added association managing director Thorsten Kühmann. In a talk with Plasteurope.com earlier this month, Kühmann had pointed to improving figures while at the same time warning that growth was still below the record levels seen in 2008 – see Plasteurope.com of 22.10.2010. Orders from German customers rose 55% in the year’s first eight months, the machinery grouping says. Orders from abroad – with China and India leading the way – increased by 87% and demand is said to be “rising sharply in a number of Latin American markets.” For 2011, the industry is predicting a renewed increase of 10%.