The participation of Portuguese companies in the Plastimagen fair, which took place in Mexico City, between the 8th and 11th of March, was positive. Organized by CEFAMOL, within the scope of the project 'Engineering & Tooling from Portugal', supported by Compete 2020, the collective participation included the companies Frumolde, Moldit, Moldoplástico, Moldworld, Plásticos Joluce, Ribermold, Simoldes, Socem, TJ Moldes and VL Moldes.

“National companies had great expectations regarding this exhibition, which comes at a later stage of the confinement imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was one of the first in-person fairs and, despite all the very tight security measures that still exist, it attracted an interesting number of potential customers and, in this sense, allowed very promising contacts for Portuguese companies”, said Patrício Tavares, from CEFAMOL, that accompanied the realization of this initiative.

This fair, one of the most important events in the plastics manufacturing industry in Latin America, has returned to its face-to-face version, with the participation of 400 exhibitors from around 20 countries and with around 20 thousand visitors, mainly from this globe region. Despite this being an interesting number of visits, Patrício Tavares highlighted that it fell short of other editions of the event, which, given the pandemic situation, is, in his opinion, “understandable”.

Many companies took this opportunity to resume in-person contact with suppliers, customers and partners and, he stressed, “there was an effort on the part of large companies to be present or to be represented”. “That was very interesting” and translated into “good contacts for Portuguese mould producers”.

In general, the conclusion drawn is that, given the global economic context, the European market is seen with good eyes and presents possibilities to gain competitiveness, which appears to be a good opportunity for Portuguese companies.

Sustainability

One of the main themes highlighted in this edition of the event was 'sustainability', an issue that is transversal, at a global level, to all sectors of the industry. The vast majority of the reflection and debate panels that took place in parallel with the fair focused on topics related to the circular economy.

In one of these spaces for reflection promoted by the Portuguese-Mexican Chamber of Commerce, on March 11th, João Faustino, President of CEFAMOL, was the guest speaker to make a presentation of the Portuguese Mould Industry and to highlight the innovative and differentiating solutions that the national companies contribute to the market.

The fair integrated a huge range of solutions for the plastics industry, such as machinery and equipment, raw materials and their transformation, moulds and various services.

As for Mexico, Patrício Tavares maintains that it is a very interesting market, with great potential, which has already been demonstrated for some years now, but which, due to the pandemic, has stagnated a little. “The companies that followed CEFAMOL already know this market and consider that it continues to be a good bet for the national models”, he said, remembering, however, that “it is necessary to work in a medium-long term logic”. “In Mexico, there continues to be a very strong business dynamic, with the creation of new industrial zones, the installation of foreign companies and with strong support for investment”, he concluded.