The Italian plastics trade fair "Plast" (www.plastonline.org), which was held from 29 May to 1 June 2018 in the Rho-Pero fairground in Milan, attracted around 63,000 visitors. Attendance was up by around a quarter compared with the previous event three years ago (50,100 in 2015). The number of exhibitors on the 55,000 m² show area, on the other hand, declined slightly to 1,510 (1,584 in 2015). Around 43% of visitors were from abroad, from 55 (57 in 2015) countries.

The mood at the show was extremely good. Plasteurope.com's editorial team was at the event and noted there were plenty of motivating discussions and a high level of satisfaction evident among the attendees.

The number of Italian visitors especially contributed to pushing attendance at this year's Plast above that of the 2015 event – certainly a reflection of the continuing growth of Italy's plastics industry (see Plasteurope.com of 29.03.2018). The share of visitors from abroad slipped slightly to 27.5% (36% in 2015). Interest has evidently declined in particular from Germany. According to data from Plast organiser Promaplast (Milan), just under 1,100 German visitors came to the Milan trade fair this year, around 400 fewer than in 2015. As a result, Germany has lost its leading position with regards to the number of European Plast visitors from outside Italy. Spain now leads the table ahead of France. The proportion of European visitors also fell to 66.7% (71.4% in 2015). At the same time, the attendance of visitors from Asia and the Middle East went up significantly.

For Plast 2018, "Chinaplas" organiser Adsale (Hong Kong / China; www.adsale.com.hk) organised its largest China pavilion to date, with 80 exhibitors. The organisation says economic and trade cooperation between China and Italy has strengthened in recent years.

According to the China Plastics Machinery Industry Association (CPMIA, Ningbo, Zhejiang / China; www.cpmia.org.cn), plastics machinery exported from mainland China to Europe has been growing since 2015. In 2015, 44,681 units of Chinese plastics machinery valued at USD 203.1m were exported to Europe. In 2016, the export volume increased to 127,399 units, and the value reached USD 226.1m. Plastics machinery exports from China to Europe further climbed in 2017 to 288,217 units, amounting to USD 315.1m.

In 2018, Plast was held for the first time concurrently with four other trade fairs –"IPack-Ima" (www.ima.it/Ipack-IMA/Packaging), "Print4All" (www.print4all.it), "Meat-Tech" (www.ipackima.com/it/pages/meat-tech-2018) and "Intralogistica Italia" (www.intralogistica-italia.com). Plast exhibitors occupied eight of the total of 17 halls. The concept of running the trade shows in parallel was evidently successful. According to Promoplast, more than 150,000 visitors came to the exhibition grounds in Milan – a quarter more than expected (see Plasteurope.com of 30.05.2018).