PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2020

TRADE SHOW PREVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 04/20 www.petpla.net 33 Voices from the industry Chinaplas, coronavirus and the supply chains Normally on these pages we would have been presenting an overview of the PET-relevant exhibits at Chi- naplas. But Chinaplas has now been postponed until August 2020, and so has our Chinaplas preview (which you will find in the July/August 2020 issue of PETplanet). Nevertheless, we asked a few of the companies regularly exhibiting at Chinaplas, what effects the postponement of the fair would have for them, what highlights visi- tors can look forward to in August but also, how coronavirus is affecting their business overall. Reports from China have indicated that production has now resumed in some of the plants that were temporarily closed. How- ever, official figures from the Chinese authorities, claiming that over 80 per cent of large companies are back at work, should be treated with caution, according to the IHK (Industrie- und Handelskammer Germany). In a quick poll by the Greater China Chamber of Commerce Abroad, over 96 per cent of all German companies in China stated that their business in the country was being affected by the coronavirus. The further spread of the virus is likely to create new difficulties in supply chains elsewhere, the effects of which cannot be foreseen at this stage. Let us hope that we return to normality as soon as possible. Until then, stay healthy! Otto Hofstetter How has the coronavirus affected your business? Instead of few weeks down for Chinese New Year, the business is slowing down for almost 6 to 8 weeks. Our subsidiary has been back to work in full opera- tion. For some customer visits Main- land China (Service requests) travel is complicated and time-consuming to get permission from the compa- nies and authorities involved. Service interventions abroad (like Japan/ South Korea/SEA) aren’t possible at this time with our local Service team, based in Shenzhen. How do you assess the post- ponement of the Chinaplas trade show? As we do have a smaller booth with around 5 participants, it isn’t such a big deal for us. We do hope that Chi- naplas will take place in August. Can- celling just the flight might be costly. The hotel we booked changed the date without prior notice. Which PET highlights can visi- tors to your stand at Chinaplas in August look forward to? We are going to present a new mould monitor- ing system which works independently from any machine controller and net- work; it is called OH-Xport. OH-Xport helps to extend the life-time of the mould as this equipment is monitoring some key-figures, like cooling per- formance, clamping force and so on. As in previous exhibitions in addition to Otto Hofstetter AG, the traditional mould-making company, we will be presenting Otto Systems AG which offers complete turn-key PET Systems. Sacmi Imola How has the coronavirus affected your business? Sacmi is an international company. For this reason we have, since the earliest stages of the emergency, taken all necessary precautions to safeguard the health of our staff and the communities con- cerned. The Covid-19 emergency will, naturally, have an impact on our econ- omies and, therefore, on business rela- tions between our countries, which are, at this time, severely restricted. That said, we’re highly confident that the measures put in place by the national authorities can achieve the desired goal and open the way towards a new phase of development. How do you assess the post- ponement of the Chinaplas trade show? It is, we think, a sensible deci- sion, as August is the peak period for machine sales. Of course, doing so has had an organisational impact as we’d already prepared every aspect of our participation at the fair, an event of strategic importance to our growth prospects on Chinese and Asian markets. Nevertheless, we acknowl- edge that it is - also in light of just how difficult it is to predict the situation that might have come about in the field, in China and beyond - the right response at this time. Which PET highlights can visi- tors to your stand at China- plas in August look forward to? Our highlights remain as announced, and largely focus on efficiency, sustainabil- ity, versatility and green packaging. For years now, Sacmi has been work- ing to implement - right across our standard machine range - solutions that rise to the challenge of recycling and re-use, a challenge that will be crucial to the future of plastics. CHT Group How has the coronavirus affected your business? It recently started to affect our business as customer visits and exhibitions were cancelled, lead times especially in Asia needed to be adjusted and internally precautions were done. Especially in China many companies have not yet started after Chinese New Year holi- days and bottle sources have plum- meted. The falling crude oil price is resulting in a bigger gap between the recycled PET and virgin PET, which has another negative influence on the recyclers in Asia. How do you assess the post- ponement of the Chinaplas trade show? I guess that it is the right deci- sion to postpone these kind of events where many people from all over the world come to visit. Which PET highlights can visi- tors to your stand at Chinaplas in August look forward to? We will not have a booth.