VDMA: German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers confident about Iran

About 50 German companies at the Iranplast in Tehran
German exports more than doubled in the first half of 2017
Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy are being discussed
Tehran, 23 September 2017 – At the Iranplast, the international trade fair for plastics and rubber, which will take place shortly, 46 German companies will showcase their innovative products and services.
The German plastics and rubber machine manufacturers have good reasons to anticipate the Iranplast optimistically. The easing of the sanctions and the increasing opening of the country manifest themselves also in the upswing of the current foreign trade figures.
Strong growth of German exports
In the first half of 2017, German companies exported plastics and rubber machines worth 22.9 million Euros to Iran. In the first six months of the previous year, during which the sanctions against the country had been eased, this value totalled 9.3 million Euros. Accordingly, German exports increased by 2.5 times within a one-year-period.
“The mere market forecasts suggest further growth,” explains Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association. “However, we are also familiar with the ongoing problems,” says Kühmann. The political conditions turn out to remain difficult, the same is true for the insufficient financial facilities.
That the market has potential is also shown by Chinese exports to Iran. In 2016, China could export plastics and rubber machines worth 149 million Euros to the country, which equals a year-on-year increase of 15.2 percent. China thereby reigns supreme at the top of the supplying countries. Germany could keep its second place with a plus of 14.1 percent and an export of 20 million in the total year 2016.
Under the given general conditions and the expectation that the Iranian market is developing slowly but surely, the German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers overall look optimistically into the future.
Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy on the agenda
Since 2015, the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association organises an Iran Management Meeting for its members. This year, about 20 member companies of the VDMA met in the run-up to the Iranplast to exchange information on the future topics Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy. With regards to Industry 4.0, the association organises further standardizing projects on digital interfaces, complementing the EUROMAP 77. Within the scope of the sustainability initiative Blue Competence, the association and its members take up the concept of Circular Economy, thereby focusing on the cycle of the plastic material.
Do you have any more questions? Thorsten Kühmann, VDMA Kunststoff- und Gummimaschinen, phone +49 69 6603-1831, [email protected] will answer your questions.