Due to the spread of the coronavirus in Europe, the JEC Group (Paris / France; www.jeccomposites.com) has decided to postpone the composites trade show “JEC World 2020” to 12-14 May 2020, with the location remaining in Paris. The announcement comes less than one week before the event was to start. It was originally planned to take place from 3-5 March 2020 – see Plasteurope.com of 23.01.2020. Around 43,000 visitors and 1,400 exhibitors were expected to attend.

The organiser notes the important roles that countries such as China, Italy and South Korea have in the composites industry. “Increased travel restrictions from authorities, but also at corporate level, both from exhibiting and visiting companies, have drastically reduced the potential attendance to the show.” JEC also noted the latest coronavirus developments have increased the concerns of participating companies and JEC about the health of staff, exhibitors and visitors, which is the top priority.

Earlier in February, “Chinaplas 2020” (www.chinaplasonline.com) organiser Adsale (Hong Kong; www.adsale.com.hk) had to postpone Asia’s largest plastics trade fair due to take place in April – see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2020. The event is rescheduled to 3-6 August 2020 in Shanghai.

While the coronavirus has spread to Italy, it has interfered with the planning of trade shows across Europe. Originally set for 21-26 April 2020, major furniture trade fair “Salone del Mobile” (www.salonemilano.it) in Milan / Italy is now rescheduled to run from 16-21 June 2020. The “Light + Building” trade show in Frankfurt / Germany has also been postponed at short notice to between mid- to late-September 2020. Light + Building was originally planned for 8-13 March 2020. Organiser Messe Frankfurt (www.messefrankfurt.com) noted that after Germany, the largest groups of exhibitors and visitors come from China and Italy.