"Our industry forecast last year predicted sales growth of 4%, which was ultimately even exceeded with an increase of 5%," says Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, with satisfaction. For the current year, the industry expects a sales volume of more than 7 billion euros for the first time.

According to Reifenhäuser, incoming orders from customers in Germany, which were still a rock in the previous year, showed a cyclical countermovement in 2015: In the period from January to October, domestic orders were down 10% on the previous year. At the same time, incoming orders from abroad increased by 11%. Countries in the eurozone and non-eurozone countries recorded comparable growth rates of 12% and 11% respectively during this period. Overall, incoming orders increased by 6% compared to the previous year.

The trade association is forecasting average annual growth of 2% for the industry in Germany until 2017, 1.5% growth for the European mechanical engineering sector and 3.2% growth for the global plastics and rubber machinery industry. The VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association brings together more than 200 companies in the sector, which account for over 90% of the industry's turnover.

Developments in the regions

The export trend was dominated by deliveries to EU countries; the four largest markets Poland, Italy, the UK and France were particularly receptive to German plastics and rubber machinery. German deliveries to Russia, on the other hand, fell again. In contrast, North America with the USA and Canada, Central America with Mexico and South America with Brazil, Argentina and Colombia were on the plus side for German manufacturers.

While India recorded strong growth at a low level after several years of declining deliveries, exports to China fell significantly in 2015. Japan and Taiwan also showed negative signs. In Southeast Asia, on the other hand, all major markets - Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - recorded growth rates in purchases from Germany.