A sunny day in Düsseldorf saw the start of the AVK (Federation of Reinforced Plastics, Germany)'s 2012 conference, the prelude to COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012.
A healthy number of delegates gathered to hear AVK's annual statistics for the European composites market. Dr Elmar Witten, AVK's managing director, delivered the forecast that the production of glass reinforced plastics (GRP) in Europe in 2012 will be 1.010 thousand tonnes, slightly down on 2011 (1.049 thousand tonnes).
This overall review is of course dependent on country, application and process. UK/Ireland, Germany and Eastern Europe are expected to show growth this year, while Spain/Portugal, France and Italy are down on 2011.
Construction continues to be the biggest application of GRP in Europe (35%), followed by transporation (34%) and sports/leisure (15%).
Further details from this report, plus a forecast on the carbon fibre reinforced plastics market, and more from the day, to follow soon.
