Tricolour Mexico: 30 Italian companies in a collective at Plastimagen

The countdown has begun for Plastimagen 2023, the Central America’s premier event. Around thirty companies will take part in the Italian collective at the specialized Plastimagen fair in Mexico City, 7-10 November 2023. Coordinated by Amaplast, they will be the largest European representation by area, occupying over 400 sqm. The following Amaplast members will be there: Bausano, BG Plast, BMB, Borghi, Colines, Fimic, Frigosystem, Industrial Frigo, IPM, Itib Machinery International, Macchi, Magic MP, Moss, Moretto, Olmas, Plas Mec, Previero, Sica, Syncro, Tecnova, Tecom, Tria, and Union. A few dozen other Italian companies will also be present at the stands of their agents or local branches.

For manufacturers of machinery, equipment, and moulds for plastics and rubber - some 170 companies represented by the trade association Amaplast - Mexico is a premier destination. After the poor performance in 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic, Italian exports for the sector quickly recovered ground and, if the trend recorded in the first six months (+64% with respect to January-June 2022) is indicative of the entire year, 2023 is on track to close out with an all-time record, breaching the threshold of 200 million euros. In the past decade, the Latin American country has remained solidly in the top ten export markets for Italian manufacturers in the sector (reaching third place in 2016, a ranking that will probably be achieved again this year) with a compound annual growth rate of 6% over the past decade. A significant share of Italian exports is made up of high-added-value systems for primary processing, often built to order based on specific needs of the customer. On the one hand, this highlights the need of Mexican companies to modernize their production equipment, while on the other, the capacity of Italian manufacturers to supply turnkey systems to produce quality articles at high production rates.

According to a survey by the Mexican association Anipac, there are roughly 3,600 local converters employing a total of more than 190,000 workers. The industry is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4% at least until 2025. Projections suggest that the consumption of plastics in the country could approach 7.4 million tons in 2026, as opposed to just over 6.6 million in 2022. The close commercial relationship between Mexico and the United States is a further element of interest for Italian companies.