‘Glimmer of hope’ for German polymer machinery makers after three muted years

Frankfurt – German plastics and rubber machinery makers have started 2025 on a positive note, with ‘a glimmer of hope’ in incoming orders, according to industry association VDMA.

The trade association expects sales in 2025 to remain flat "at best", provided many new orders can be generated in a short period of time, said VDMA in a 7 June quarterly report.

In a worst-case scenario, with sales materialising only in 2026, the industry turnover is expected to decline by a further 5% compared to last year, the trade association added.

“The year 2025 will therefore be more of a transition year, but one with a positive outlook,” said VDMA, noting that the industry has suffered declines over the past three years.

“We currently assume that the bottom has been reached in terms of order intake,” said Thorsten Kuehmann, managing director of the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association.

"The industry will work its way up from this level in small steps over the next few months,” he added.

The K2025 trade fair in October is, therefore, coming “at just the right time,” to enable companies to present their solutions to “a hopefully investment-friendly crowd of customers.”

However, Kuehmann noted that the uncertainties triggered by US trade policy are currently dampening the mood.

According to VDMA, the year 2024 was “another year to forget” for the German polymer processing industry.

Adjusted for price changes, order intake fell by 21% compared with the previous year, and sales declined by 19% year-on-year, said VDMA without giving a figure.

“This means we have had three very long years in which hardly any new orders were placed, and companies were pushed to their limits,” said Ulrich Reifenhauser, chairman of the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association.

Overall, production during the year fell marginally to €8.83 billion during the year, with capacity utilisation falling to 81%, compared to 86% the year before.

While exports fell 6.6% year-on-year to €5.8 billion, Germany maintained its second position as a machinery exporter with a market share of 20.8%.

China led the table with a share of 29.4% while the EU+UK held a 47% share of the €28.2 billion pie.

According to vdma figures, world production of polymer machinery reached €41.5 billion in 2024, with the EU+UK contributing 42.6% of the total.

China alone accounted for a 32.8% share of the market, followed by Germany and Italy with 21.3% and 7.1%, respectively.

Looking ahead, Reifenhauser said the industry is "emerging from the first quarter of 2025 with a glimmer of hope.”

Orders, he said, have picked up “noticeably” – price-adjusted up 5% year-on-year – while sales are still down 17% compared to last year.

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