While Germany remains the leading supplier of plastics and rubber machinery to the US, accounting for 31.2% of total global exports to the country in 2013, a number of other states – most prominently among them France and Austria – have significantly raised their market share. Figures released by the German association for plastics and rubber machinery VDMA Kunststoff- und Gummimaschinen (KuG, Frankfurt; http://kug.vdma.org) ahead of the upcoming “NPE” (www.npe.org) industry fair, held in Orlando, Florida from 23-27 March (for most recent coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 13.02.2015), show that German plastics and rubber machinery exports to the US grew by 15.5% year-on-year in 2013, reaching a total value of about EUR 630m. All in all, global plastics and rubber deliveries to the US rose by 8.6% year-on-year in 2013, reaching a total of about EUR 2 bn.

However, preliminary data released for the period from January to November last year show that German plastics and rubber exports to the US fell by 2.3% year-on-year to about EUR 561m. Against this backdrop, it looks like the triannual NPE will serve as a battleground for global plastics machinery producers eager to get their slice of the pie that the shale gas revolution has bestowed. VDMA data show that in 2013, Austrian producers upped their game, lifting their exports to the country by a massive 37.7%. Hot on their heels were French machinery manufacturers, who recorded a 37.4% year-on-year rise in deliveries.