Annual VDMA Building Material Plants Day held in Frankfurt

The annual VDMA Building Material Plants Day highlights the efforts made by plant manufacturers who supply the cement industry and many others. "We anticipate that incoming orders will once again grow in the double-digit range this year," said Hermann Weckenmann, Chairman of the VDMA Building Material Plants Group. Mr Weckenmann noted the increase in demand anticipated from emerging countries and China, according to a press release.

In particular, German building material plant manufacturers operating in China need to lay groundwork to ensure that they can compete in the market after 2020. After this time period the Chinese building materials sector is expected to cooldown, according to Björn Conrad, Sinolytics. Mr Conrad’s presentation was delivered at the annual VDMA Building Material Plants Day in Frankfurt, and explored the challenges the industry will face in the coming years.

Mr Conrad considered the possibility of foreign manufacturers being pushed out of the Chinese market following the conclusion of the current five-year plan in 2020. Opportunities for German companies lies in its potential as a technology leader in the precast concrete industry, with 20 per cent of construction services expected to consist of precast elements in the near future.