#Composites

2019-09-19

COMPOSITES EUROPE generates momentum in a difficult market environment

Light and darkness are close together in the composites industry right now. This overall economic climate left its marks on COMPOSITES EUROPE, too – positively and negatively. The leading trade fair in the DACH region (the German-speaking countries) for fibre-reinforced plastics – sold mainly to customers in the automotive, aerospace, and plant and mechanical engineering industries – suffered from lower demand from both exhibitors and visitors this year.

In total, organiser Reed Exhibitions registered 310 exhibitors (prior year: 354) and 7,581 visitors (prior year: 8,148) from 64 countries, a decrease of seven per cent.

Two industries – both key buyers of glass-fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) – created most of the trade fair’s challenges: the automotive industry, which suffers massively from declining sales and fears trade barriers, and the plant and mechanical engineering sector, where the current economy has similarly depressed the numbers and the mood. Positive signals, meanwhile, are coming from aerospace and increasing demand in the booming construction sector.

“Trade fairs are seismographs of their industries – this is true as well for COMPOSITES EUROPE, which in an economically heterogeneous environment showed its importance for bringing new ideas and innovations to market”, says Michael Freter, managing director of Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH..

European GFRP market stagnates

The same conclusion is reflected in the market report presented in Stuttgart by AVK – Federation of Reinforced Plastics e.V. After years of growth, it found, the market for glass-fibre reinforced plastics in Europe has stagnated in 2019. Total production volume in 2019 is on track to remain flat compared to the prior year, at 1.141 million metric tonnes.

Construction/infrastructure and the transport sector still are the two main application areas for GFRP. The current sales crisis in the automotive sector, which responds more quickly than the construction industry, shows up directly in the market developments expected by the GFRP industry. “Due to market shifts, the future market prospects of the construction/infrastructure sector must be seen for the first time as greater than those of the transport sector”, says Dr. Elmar Witten, managing director of AVK.

„Process live“ shows progress in the process chain

A special focus of this year’s COMPOSITES EUROPE was on the digital process chain. Joining forces in group exhibits in the “Process live” area, mechanical and plant engineering companies showed how their technologies interact – and they did so while operations were ongoing in order to demonstrate the individual processes in a larger context. Three exhibitors had participated in the debut of the area last year – this year there already were 16 companies.

LTF – The interface between metal and fibre-reinforced composite technologies

One of the overarching emerging themes that’s captured the attention of the entire composites industry and virtually all user industries is multi-material solutions. Once again this year, the Lightweight Technologies Forum at COMPOSITES EUROPE showed how lightweight multi-material engineering can be implemented in an economic and resource-efficient way – in the automotive industry, aerospace and mechanical engineering. “In the lightweight construction landscape, COMPOSITES EUROPE and the Lightweight Technologies Forum serve as an important interface for metal and fibre-reinforced composite technologies”, says German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier, underscoring the significance of the forum.

5th International Composites Conference (ICC)

Organized by AVK on behalf of Composites Germany, the International Composites Conference (ICC) took place concurrently with COMPOSITES EUROPE for the first time. The trade fair and the conference converged thematically, too. One example were the themed guided tours of the exhibition area that complemented the conference presentations. “Bringing together the conference programme and the trade fair is an important step in our quest to align the event even more strongly with the current challenges faced by processors and the user industries of fibre-reinforced plastics”, says Dr. Elmar Witten.

Up next, the 15th COMPOSITES EUROPE will take place in Stuttgart from 10 to 12 November 2020. To celebrate this little anniversary, Reed Exhibitors are already exploring innovative ways of working with partners and exhibitors to stage the trends of the future and generate business.

Fewer pores, greater impact tolerance: Peter Dornier Foundation Prize 2026 honours material research on fibre-reinforced composite components for aerospace industry

Microscopically small pores that form during manufacture, or barely visible impact damage, can severely impair the load-bearing capacity and service life of fibre-reinforced composite components. Two young researchers have presented groundbreaking work in this field and will both be awarded the 2026 Peter Dornier Foundation Prize: Dr.-Ing. Benedikt Neitzel from the Technical University of Ilmenau for his doctoral thesis on pore minimisation in the RTM process, and Johanna Buschmann, M.Sc., for her master’s thesis, completed at the German Aerospace Centre, on the improved impact tolerance of 3D fabrics compared to 2D laminates.

JEC Forum Southeast Asia 2026 highlights Taiwan as a strategic hub for the global composites industry

The third edition of JEC Forum organized in Southeast Asia brought together 350+ participants from 22 countries for three active days of high-level Business Meetings, conferences, and networking, emphasizing Southeast Asia’s growing role in the global composites market. Held for the first time in Taipei from 23 to 24 June 2026, following the successful first editions in Bangkok, JEC Forum Southeast Asia 2026 confirmed its position as the region’s leading business platform dedicated to the composites industry.

MEL Composites supports ELA Aviation with advanced composite materials

MEL Composites is supplying advanced composite materials and process consumables to ELA Aviation for the production of its next-generation gyroplanes. The collaboration underlines MEL Composites’ growing role in advanced aerospace mobility, providing lightweight materials designed to improve aircraft performance, manufacturing efficiency and structural reliability.

Rieter sees Barmag integration on track as orders and sales rise

The first half of 2026 was shaped by the successful completion of the largest acquisition in Rieter’s history. The Man-Made Fiber Division enables entry into the growth segment of man-made fibers and sustainably strengthens Rieter’s market position in the Asia region. The expanded Group is now the world’s leading system supplier for the processing of natural and man-made fibers. In the first half of the year, initial cost savings in material costs and operating expenses have already been realized. The targeted synergies are expected to amount to at least CHF 20 million by the end of the 2028 financial year. Due to the completion of the acquisition on February 2, 2026, the first half of the year for the Man-Made Fiber Division only amounts to five months.