Plastics industry paving the way for rebound

 

The Chinese industries have been normalizing operations as the spread of the coronavirus was slowing down. Indeed, the plastics industry, among others, has to stay positive and prepare for the expected market rebound after the epidemic. 

 

As the leading industry trade show CHINAPLAS was rescheduled to 3-6 August, and many of the exhibitors are already planning to strengthen their presence at the upcoming show. According to a press statement by the show's organizers, Adsale, the resumption of operations by companies in the industries and some exhibitors has improved.  

 

Most provinces across China have returned to work after an extended holiday. The National Development and Reform Commission stated that in some major economic provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shanghai, the resumption rate of industrial enterprises above designated size exceeded 50%.  

 

Large enterprises are relatively quick to resume work and production compared with small and medium-sized enterprises. Upstream industries and technology-intensive enterprises are faster than downstream industries and labor-intensive enterprises.

 

Meanwhile, governments at all levels have promulgated a number of policies to proactively coordinating the resumption of production and work of enterprises, ensuring the stable economic development. For instance, Beijing has introduced comprehensive financial support measures, Shanghai has set up tax reduction and exemption targets, and Guangzhou has also launched work and production resumption policies.

 

 

Responses of companies stay positive  

LANXESS is one of the companies that expects that the plastics industry may rebound quickly. Most of the production bases of LANXESS in China have resumed production since February 10 in accordance with the prevention and control actions of the Chinese central and local governments. Under the circumstances, LANXESS has been doing best to minimize the impacts of the coronavirus epidemic on the company and its business partners. “At this point it is difficult to provide a reliable outlook into the second half. We believe however that business may rebound quickly once the situation is controlled and are already planning accordingly,” Ulf Dressler Vice President, Corporate Communications APAC at LANXESS commented. LANXESS welcomes the decision to reschedule CHINAPLAS 2020, which is "in line with the company's policy to place the safety of its employees and business partners first".

 

Clariant, a CHINAPLAS exhibitor, intends to showcase more its applications for medical and protective products. Darren Soo, Head of Sales Asia Pacific at Clariant, said that the impacts of the epidemic on the plastics industry are heavy. Nevertheless, he agreed that huge consumer demands will be coming after the epidemic is over. In addition to latest products such as halogen-free flame retardant and high performance additives, Clariant will also showcase more applications for medical and protective products at CHINAPLAS 2020.

 

Clariant has approx. 1,400 employees across 16 locations in China. Since Clariant has no production sites or offices in Wuhan or the Hubei province, there is no significant impact at this moment. The company is strictly following the latest instructions from the Chinese government on both traveling and employment-related arrangements. It has installed a travel ban to Hubei Province in China. Furthermore, all global travel from and to China (including Hong Kong) was also banned.

 

JCTIMES is also set to present its innovative technologies and medical products that adhere to key trends. “According to the recent assessment, the lack of medical supplies such as masks and isolation clothing has been boosting the production capacity of the corresponding downstream breathable membranes and non-woven fabrics manufacturers,” Liang Bin, President of JCTIMES, said. JCTIMES sold more than a dozen sets of breathable film die and meltblown non-woven die in the last few days. Liang Bin is optimistic about the market rebound. He believes that the medical industry will have huge potential after the coronavirus epidemic is over.  “For the plastics industry, as long as we continue to upgrade equipment and products and focus on services, the competition is ourselves,” he remarked. 

 

 

Well-Lih expects medical consumables and packaging sectors to post "significant growth". Qiu Hongli, Chairman of Ningbo Well-Lih Robots Technology Co., Ltd. expressed his understanding to the postponement of CHINAPLAS 2020. He particularly mentioned that there will be a “significant growth” in the medical consumables and packaging sectors after the epidemic is over. At the same time, the demands for automation and smart manufacturing will also increase.

 

For Coperion Nanjing, the short-term difficulties will be resolved. CHINAPLAS is the only trade show that Coperion (Nanjing) Machinery Co., Ltd. joins every year. The Chinese operations for the extruder maker Coperion will have a booth area of 180sqm this year. “Our main concern for the new show date is the high temperature in August, which will be a challenge to the comfort of the exhibition halls. And it is relatively close to the 2021 show,” Joanne Shen, Managing Director of Coperion Nanjing commented. The project delivery time of large import equipment is not seriously affected for Coperion Nanjing. During the epidemic, many of the company’s customers have been actively participating in the production of medical supplies such as goggles and masks. "The epidemic will pass anyway, and the short-term difficulties will be resolved,” she said. “Local customers are well aware of the delay in delivery, and the project delivery time of large import equipment is not seriously affected. For export projects, we need to explain to overseas customers in more details.”

 

CHINAPLAS is re-scheduled to August 3-6, 2020 to be held in the National Exhibition and Convention Center, in Hongqiao, Shanghai, PR China. Focusing on “Smart Manufacturing” , “Innovative Materials”, and “Green & Circular Solutions”, the organizer is expect to present 340,000 square meters of exhibition space, bring together 3,800+ renowned global exhibitors. Visitor pre-registration is opened and those who pre-register on and before May 22, 2020 will receive a visitor badge by mail in advance.