world news - 29.05.2009
LIGNA HANNOVER Underlines Wood Industry Strengths
Attracting a highly international audience, LIGNA
HANNOVER 2009 closed on an upbeat note, capping five days of brisk
business activity and giving the wood industry hope of renewed growth.
"LIGNA HANNOVER far exceeded the expectations of our exhibitors from 50
different countries," enthused Deutsche Messe Managing Board member
Stephan Ph. Kühne at the closing press conference. Stephan Kühne summed the event as a whole as follows: "LIGNA was
eagerly anticipated, and ended up successfully mobilizing the strengths
of the wood and forestry industries."
"As
the world's foremost trade fair the forestry and wood industries, LIGNA
has once again triggered new momentum and a brighter outlook for the
road ahead, despite the troubled economy. The show's exhibitors and
visitors offered proof positive of the industry's determination to
respond to the challenges it faces with flexibility and innovativeness.
The keynote theme of resource efficiency also played a major role in
helping stimulate new growth," Kühne remarked.
Dr. Bernhard
Dirr, Managing Director of the German Woodworking Machinery
Manufacturers' Association within VDMA, referred to LIGNA as a "shelter
in the storm", adding that LIGNA's popularity among exhibitors and
visitors underscored its "unparalleled status on the international
trade fair scene."
During the five-day run of the "world fair
for the forestry and wood industries", 1,758 exhibitors from 50 nations
presented their products and services on total display space of 130,152
square meters — impressive results, only slightly down from the "boom
year" of 2007. A strong exhibitor lineup cemented LIGNA's reputation as
the world's No. 1 event for the forestry and wood industries. With
regard to attendance, Kühne remarked: "Given the factors affecting the
industry, a total of over 83,000 visitors is highly respectable. As a
potion against the current economic ills, the high caliber of our
audience gave rise to many new projects, scores of new business
opportunities and numerous business deals." One example: the
Brandenburg-based firm Timme Stapelautomaten reported closing a major
export deal at LIGNA for deliveries to Canada and the United States,
which will keep production at high levels for the entire year.
"While
visitor numbers did reflect strained economies around the world as well
as the fact that many firms have been forced to drastically cut travel
budgets, well over a third of all trade visitors with decision-making
authority still came from abroad," commented Kühne.
LIGNA
HANNOVER 2009 again impressively demonstrated its international appeal,
drawing visitors from over 90 different countries. In terms of
countries and/or regions of origin, the percentage remained stable,
most notably for the Americas and Asia. An upswing in attendance was
registered for Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and France.
Trade
visitors again accounted for over 95 percent of total attendance. "Our
success in maintaining this extremely positive result in spite of the
tough economic circumstances was a remarkable achievement," declared
Kühne. In terms of audience background, the construction industry and
the interior finishing sectors accounted for an increased share of
visitors, while attendance by machinery trade professionals was down.
As Kühne explained, these figures represented "a clear reflection of
current economic realities."
See also:
- — Estonian Wood Manufacturing Falls Sharply
- — Russia and Finland: let's talk about logs!
- — Europe could become strategic biofuel market for Russia
- — The forest industry in Finland reduces its dependence on logs from Russia in 2008
- — Crisis and recovery in the forest industry
