ALUMINIUM 2020 Messe Düsseldorf, Germany

WORLD’S LEADING TRADE SHOW AND LEADING B2B PLATFORM FOR THE ALUMINUM INDUSTRY AND ITS APPLICATION INDUSTRIES
Experience the international growth dynamics of the aluminum industry live on 6th – 8th October 2020 in Dusseldorf.

FINAL REPORT: ALUMINIUM CONTINUES TO HEAD FOR GROWTH – VISITORS FROM 123 NATIONS CAME TO DÜSSELDORF
Düsseldorf. “Despite” was a phrase that came up in nearly all conversations at this year’s ALUMINIUM. Despite current trade disputes, such as punitive US tariffs, sanctions against Russia and various bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials, global production and demand are still continuing to grow throughout the world. This was clearly emphasised by ALUMINIUM 2018, which was bigger and more international than ever before.

“ALUMINIUM is a trade fair for light metal, but a heavyweight in its global significance for the industry. This is particularly true at a time when there are irritations and when some parts of various markets are realigning themselves, as it’s also a time when trade fairs can play a crucial role in providing orientation for global trade,” says Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO of Reed Exhibitions Germany, the organisers of ALUMINIUM.

This explains why the number of visitors has remained so robust – despite the current challenges and obstacles in international trade. “It’s where the world comes together, and no one wants to miss out,” says Hans-Joachim Erbel. In fact, all industry representatives fundamentally agree that the current aluminium rush will continue to gain momentum.

In total, the organisers reported 24,148 trade visitors (previous year: 24,373). The result of this year’s ALUMINIUM is therefore very close to the record achieved at the previous event.

Ongoing rise in internationalism

Whether they came from South Africa, the United States, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand or of course Europe, the visitors from 123 nations (previous event: 108) turned the trade fair into a “United Nations of ALUMINIUM”. At nearly 20 per cent, the number of overseas visitors who came to Düsseldorf was particularly remarkable. It meant that the overall level of internationalism had risen from 58 to 63 per cent.

Global heavyweight in light metal

“It’s a yardstick for the quality and worldwide relevance of ALUMINIUM and it’s something that reflects developments in the international markets,” says Olaf Freier, Event Director of ALUMINIUM at the end of the three-day event. In this way ALUMINIUM underlines its function as a global trading platform.

The same picture emerges for exhibitors. The trade fair has now reached the point where over two thirds of exhibitors – 664 businesses in all – come from outside Germany, amounting to a 4-per-cent increase since the previous event.

In total, this year’s world trade fair of the aluminium industry featured 971 exhibitors. 54 nations were represented, headed by Germany (307), then Italy as the second biggest exhibiting nation (118), and then China (103), Turkey (64), Spain (32), Austria and Spain (both 32), the United States (29), the Netherlands (25), France and the UK (both 23 exhibitors) and Canada (19).

Dynamic development of demand on a global scale

The material of the future is facing a future that will be greater than its past. “The long-term global trend is highly positive for primary aluminium. According to forecasts, demand should reach 50 per cent by 2050 and up to 108 million tonnes. The fastest growth can be observed in Asia, although Europe is currently the second biggest market for primary aluminium and is likely to continue in that position until at least 2050. Our estimates show that around 9 million tonnes of primary aluminium will be needed over the next few decades,” says Dr. Gerd Götz, Director General of the industry association European Aluminium.

The forecast matches the findings of a representative industry survey that was conducted at ALUMINIUM by an independent market research company. It showed that 69 per cent of the 600 businesses who were asked are expecting either a substantial or slight increase in economic developments over the next four years. Only six per cent of businesses believe that there will be a slight downturn. The rest are expecting at least a constant level of business development.

“Electric mobility, digitisation, sustainability and additive manufacturing – those are just some of the megatrends that will eventually give the aluminium industry another boost,” says Christian Wellner, Executive Member of the Managing Board of GDA, the German Aluminium Industry Association. He believes that Germany’s aluminium industry is well prepared for such challenges: “We’re the ones who (help to) develop the products and solutions for tomorrow,” says Christian Wellner at the end of ALUMINIUM.

The next ALUMINIUM, the 13th Aluminium World Trade Fair and Convention, will be held in Düsseldorf from 6 to 8 October 2020.

PRODUCT GROUPS
Here you will find the complete product group index of the ALUMINIUM exhibition.

NOMENCLATURE
RAW MATERIALS, PRIMARY METAL PRODUCTS, SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS, SEMI-FABRICATES
01.01 Raw materials, Working materials, Supplies
01.02 Primary metal products, Remelted products
01.03 Granulates, Powder, Paste, Wool, Foam
01.04 Semi-finished products, semi-fabricates
01.04.01 Rolled products, unfinished
01.04.02 Rolled products, surface-treated
01.04.03 Composite semi-fabricates (sheet, strip)
01.04.04 Sections made from strip
01.04.05 Round blanks
01.04.06 Slug
01.04.07 Extruded products, unfinished
01.04.08 Extruded products, surface-treated
01.04.09 Rod and bar
01.04.10 Tube
01.04.11 Wire
01.04.12 Die-forged and hammer-forged components
01.04.13 Impact extruded engineering components
01.04.14 Shaped sheet components
01.04.15 Perforated sheets
01.04.16 Plate
01.04.17 Bar
01.04.18 Ingot
01.04.19 Others

01.05 Castings
01.05.01 Pressure Die-Casting
01.05.02 Sand Casting
01.05.03 Mold Casting
01.05.04 Magnesium an magnesium alloy castings
01.06 Thixoforming
01.07 Powder metallurgy
01.08 Hybrid components

ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS FOR SPECIAL APPLICATION
02.01 Building and construction
02.01.01 Supporting elements
02.01.02 Decorative elements
02.01.03 Industrialized buildings
02.01.04 Components (windows, doors, gates etc.)
02.02 Road transport (cars, HGV’s, buses)
02.02.01 Body-exterior
02.02.02 Body-interior
02.02.03 Powertrain engineering
02.02.04 Traffic structures/guide systems
02.02.05 Others
02.03 Rail, water, air transport
02.03.01 Parts for railway vehicles
02.03.02 Parts for ships and boats
02.03.03 Parts for the aerospace industry
02.04 electrical engineering + electronics
02.05 mechanical & general engineering
02.06 design oriented applications
02.06.01 kitchen, household, furniture, garden
02.06.02 sport equipment
02.06.03 Others
02.07 factory equipment
02.08 packaging-materials
02.09 apparatus and container construction

SURFACE TREATMENT
03.01 Special surface treatment for aluminium products
03.01.01 Polishing
03.01.02 Anodising
03.01.03 Electroplating
03.01.04 Chromating
03.01.05 Coating
03.02 Equipment, materials, consumables and accessories for surface treatment technology and corrosion protection

LIGHT-METALS TRADE AND RECYCLING
04.01 Light-metals trade, general
04.02 Light-metals trade in special products
04.03 Aluminium recycling
04.04 Treatment and recycling of industrial waste

PLANT, MACHINERY AND ACCESSORIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR ALUMINIUM EXTRACTION, PROCESSING AND REFINING
05.01 Raw materials processing
05.02 Primary reduction
05.03 Melting, casting, heat treatment and reheating technology (incl. furnaces)
05.03.01 industrial furnaces + furnace components
05.03.02 melt treatment + transport
05.03.03 casting of semis
05.03.04 shape castings
05.04 Refractories and insulation
05.05 Rolling mill technology
05.06 Extrusion and drawing
05.07 Forging and extrusion moulding
05.08 Sheet fabrication technology
05.09 Sawing and cutting
05.10 Machining
05.11 Metal construction work
05.12 Joining technology
05.13 Strip and foil processing, foil finishing and packaging technology
05.14 Environmental engineering
05.15 Tool, die and mould making
05.16 General factory
05.17 Measurement and testing
05.18 Scrap processing, recovery, reclamation, processing and recycling
05.19 Stockholding equipment and systems
05.20 Tube production
05.21 Mechanical handling
05.22 Jobbing, Jobbing services, sub-contractors
05.22.01 Heat treatment
05.22.02 Forming, machining, cutting
05.22.03 Joining
05.22.04 Others
05.23Integrated process engineering
05.24 Additive Manufacturing
05.25 Surface Processing
05.26 Automation
05.27 Robotic Handling
05.28 Chained Processes
05.29 Special Machinery
05.30 Milling Processes

SERVICES AND CONSULTANCY EXPERT
06.01 Industrial IT & Engineering
06.01.01 Engineering software & systems
06.01.02 Virtual product development & simulation
06.01.03 Cloud services
06.01.04 Data management systems
06.01.05 Company software
06.01.06 Manufacturing software
06.01.07 Machine software
06.01.08 IT security
06.01.09 Augmented Reality
06.01.10 Artificial Intelligence
06.02 Engineering services
06.03 Energy services
06.04 Consultancy / Project Management
06.05 Prototyping, Additive Manufacturing
06.06 Expert opinions
06.07 Technology transfer

INFORMATION, TRAINING, OTHERS

07.01 Information
07.02 Education, training
07.03 Research
07.04 Publishing
07.05 Associations
07.06 Events
07.07 Protective equipment and clothing
07.08 Others

MISCELLANEOUS
08.01 Miscellaneous