Attendance at the recent “Utech Europe 2018” (www.utecheurope.eu) polyurethanes conference and exhibition in Maastricht / The Netherlands exceeded expectations, organiser Crain Communications (Croydon / UK; www.crain.co.uk) has reported. This year’s show attracted 13% more visitors than the 2015 event. By the time the doors closed on 31 May, some 5,239 “unique” attendees representing 90 countries had passed through the doors, while total footfall over the three days increased to 10,113 from 8,650 three years earlier. By the end of the show, more than 85% of the 206 exhibitors attending had rebooked for 2021, said Debbie Hershfield, Crain’s trade show director.

Topics for 2018 included new products, new markets, developments in raw materials, PU systems, processing equipment and manufacturing technologies. At this year’s show, Patrick Thomas, Covestro’s outgoing CEO (see Plasteurope.com of 13.04.2018) – who delivered the keynote address – was inducted as the first member of the Utech Hall of Fame in recognition of his leadership in the polyurethanes industry for more than 30 years. Before taking the helm at the former Bayer MaterialScience, Thomas’ stations in the European PU sector included positions at ICI and Huntsman.

The next 2018 Utech show will be “PU China 2018”, to be held at Shanghai World Expo from 1-3 August. The “Utech North America exhibition and conference will be held from 11-13 September, again in Charlotte, North Carolina / USA. In 2019, “Utech Las Americas” will be held at Centro Banamex in Mexico City from 10-12 April.