If it is true that – as the saying goes – the faster they rise the harder they fall, the reverse must also be true. Either way you look at it, business in the German plastics machinery sector seems to have fit the pattern over the past two years. After its historic plunge in the second half of 2008, the industry bounced back over the course of 2010, with manufacturers taking in 75% more orders compared with 2009. In 2011 order intake is expected to improve by a further 7%.

For 2011, based on first-quarter figures that saw new order volume rise 31%, the plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers’ association in the German Engineering Federation VDMA (Frankfurt; www.kug.vdma.org) is forecasting sales growth of around 18%. Output of core machinery is expected to be worth a record EUR 5.8 bn. This will not only pull figures well out of the EUR 3.8 bn trough into which the industry slipped in 2009 and pass the much improved EUR 4.9 bn mark in 2010; it will also exceed the EUR 5.6 bn record set in 2008.

“The industry has returned to pre-crisis levels more quickly than expected,” Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman of the VDMA committee, stressed once again at the general assembly held in Mainz / Germany. He predicted that sales to domestic customers will grow faster than foreign deliveries in both 2011 and 2012, especially as German companies are currently working at full capacity and plan increased investment in new plants and machinery. Asian business is already at a high level, Reifenhäuser noted, explaining the relatively slower dynamics on the export side.

German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers’ brisk rebound could have a bitter taste for some of their customers. In 2010, the VDMA committee members had an order backlog averaging 6.7 months to work off (compared with 5.5 months in the last boom year, 2008). In mid-2011 some customers for extrusion machinery may have to wait 16 months for delivery, said the association chairman. In 2010, capacity utilisation averaged 88% (down from 90% in 2008), but could exceed 90% in 2011. In 2010 the value of core plastics and rubber machinery output was 29% above 2009, while total output was worth 18% more, at EUR 7.5 bn. The injection moulding machinery segment took the biggest nosedive in 2009, with the value of production falling by 52% to EUR 406m. It also enjoyed the biggest comeback – of 57% to EUR 638m – a year later. Output value in this segment – where exports accounted for 93% of sales – was still considerably below the 2008 figure of EUR 849m. The other core segments – extrusion, blow moulding and thermoforming – did not see such extreme gyrations. Here, movement averaged 30% in either direction.

Global production of all types of plastics machinery rose 38% in 2010 to a value equivalent to EUR 23.3 bn. While German manufacturers showed a spectacular comeback, their growth figure was topped by traditional rival, Japan, which achieved a surprising turnaround of 83% to EUR 1.26 bn – albeit from a very low level. China strengthened its already leading position, producing machinery worth EUR 6.8 bn – some 72.5% more than in 2009. Chinese-produced machinery now accounts for 29% of the world total. Germany is second largest producer with 21%. Italy is in third place with 9.6% followed by the US and Japan, tied at 5.4%. Despite China’s progress on the production side, Germany can still claim to be export leader, accounting for a 23.7% share of this field in 2010, although the figure for 2009 was 24.6%. Japan did some catching-up, lifting its share to 13.1% from 10.8%, while China knocked Italy out of third place in the leading exporters list, improving its position to 10.6% from 9.1%. Italy’s share fell to 9.6% from 11.3%, while the US share slipped to 6.7% from 7.5%

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VDMA's annuel review of plastics and rubber machinery in 2010 as a PDF document