The companies that, together with CEFAMOL, integrated the collective participation of Portugal in the Moulding Expo fair, made a moderately positive balance of the event, highlighting that despite being in a lower number than initially expected, and that much is related to the current market moment, it was possible to make relevant contacts with several customers and identify possible future business.

The fair, which took place between June 13 and 16, in Stuttgart (Germany), represented the return of this fair after an interregnum of almost four years: the fair takes place every two years and the 2021 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps because of this, the fair brought together a set of exhibitors not as large as, at first, the national mold companies would expect. However, this smaller version ended up revealing some positive aspects, allowing a more prolonged contact with the visitors of the fair.

Integrated in the international promotion project "Engineering & Tooling from Portugal", CEFAMOL was accompanied by 20 companies (Bormat, CR Moulds, Ecotool, FozMoldes, Frumolde, Ideal Molde, Itecmo, Moldoeste, Moldoplastic, Pearlmaster, Planimolde, PMM, Ribermold, Socem, Steelplus, Tecnimoplás, TJ Moldes, Uepro, VL Moldes and VSV), constituting the second largest participation in number of companies, right after the German representation.

This is an international fair focused on the supply chain of the plastics industry, and therefore very focused on the mold industry. It has the location as one of its great advantages, as it is held in Stuttgart - a region that concentrates some of the main German car brands.

"It is a region with a lot of automobile tradition, but also with a lot of industry", which has attracted the visit of many of the main industry players in previous editions of the fair. This year, although in smaller numbers, the fair attracted potential customers and allowed national companies to establish some contacts of high interest, with a view to developing future business.

Despite the apprehension and uncertainty that currently characterizes the market, portuguese moldmakers also brought some notes of optimism regarding the future of the automotive industry in Germany. It was possible to realize that there are some projects that may be launched in the near future, but there are, above all, a number of customers with models in the prototype phase, which means that the decision to move forward to manufacturing may arise in the coming months.

According to the organization's data, this year's edition of Moulding Expo was visited by more than six thousand professionals, highlighting "their high experience in the sector: 83 % were the sole responsible, co-responsible or responsible in an advisory capacity for purchase and purchase decisions in their companies", while "12 % were part of the plant management".