The leading composites trade fair “JEC World 2018” will run from 6-8 March 2018 in Paris / France. Organiser JEC Group (Paris; www.jeccomposites.com) expects more than 43,000 people will attend the event, from over 100 countries. "One field where France is a global leader is the field of composites!" says JEC Group president and CEO Frédérique Mutel. JEC World 2017 had 40,607 attendees and included 1,300 exhibitors over the three days – see Plasteurope.com of 23.03.2017. This year, 1,350 exhibitors will present their latest innovations across 68,000 m².

According to JEC Group, the share of composites in the global economy is growing. In 2017, the composites market was worth EUR 83 bn, with a volume of 11.2m t. A steady 5% growth is predicted up to 2021.

The event's conferences programme includes focused topics on building and infrastructure, the automotive and aerospace industries, renewable energies and biocomposites. It will also have four innovation areas that are sector-specific – "Aero planet" (aerospace), "Auto planet" (automotive), "Building planet" (construction) and "Make it real planet", which is a preview of creations that will be on display at the Design museum Gent (Ghent / Belgium) starting in October 2018.

There will be special focuses on the start-up competition and innovation awards, where winners will be announced on 6 March and 7 March, respectively. In addition, a new "Composite Challenge" programme will give ten PhD students five minutes to pitch their research projects, which Mutel says is one way to "bridge the gap between academics and the industry." JEC Group will also be launching its book on the use of plant-based materials, titled "Flax & Hemp Fiber Composites, A Market Reality: The Biobased Solution for the Industry".

Click here to register for JEC World 2018 and the JEC conferences. For more information, contact JEC Group (tel: +33 (0)1 4384 8683, jec@badgeonline.net).