After 11 years of growth, the German plastic and rubber machinery manufacturer's sales fell by 6% in 2019. Now, the trade organization VDMA says that the impact of the new coronavirus has brought a greater blow.
According to VDMA, orders for the first five months of 2020 have fallen by 20% compared to last year.
Thorsten Kühmann, managing director of the VDMA Industry Association, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has hit customer industries that are already underperforming.” There are also positive aspects. He pointed out: “During the COVID-19 crisis, many plastic and rubber machines are providing products. Especially for medical engineering and packaging."
The new crown pandemic has another impact: it shows that plastics can bring benefits, especially in terms of hygiene. Therefore Kühmann described it as a "significant improvement in social image." However, we know that we are currently experiencing a special situation where the image change will not maintain long-term effects.
Due to the new coronavirus crisis, exports to China and the United States fell by 3%. The VDMA warned that although the Chinese market is beginning to show signs of recovery, the decline in exports to the US is only the beginning.
Exports to European countries are also affected by the pandemic. The decline in the number of machinery exported to Italy was particularly noticeable, at 31%, sales to France fell by 42%, and sales to Spain fell by 48%.
Exports to India fell by 73%.
On the other hand, compared with the same period last year, both Russia and Turkey imported plastic and rubber machinery from Germany, exports to Russia increased by 28%, and sales to Turkey increased by 102%.
The organization said, but the future is full of uncertainty. The new crown pandemic, the bleak outlook for the auto industry and the poor trade relations between China and the United States have all negatively affected the export-oriented engineering industry.
In addition, the impact of the plastic tax recently passed by the European Commission remains to be seen. Most plastic and rubber machinery manufacturers expect total sales to fall by 30% in 2020.
However, not everything is full of haze: The recovery plan drafted by the European Union sends a strong signal that collective action will be taken to deal with the economic impact of the new crown virus pandemic.
In addition, 80% of German plastic and rubber machinery manufacturers expect to resume sales in 2019 by 2022 at the latest, and some expect to achieve this goal as early as next year. It is expected that by the second half of 2020, orders from Western Europe and China will increase, which marks an initial turning point.
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