In the final pre-event briefing before the K2010 doors open on Wednesday, organizer Messe Dusseldorf said that the number of exhibitors will be down by just 12 compared to the last show in 2007 event – 3,102 exhibitors this year from 3,114 – representing a total exhibitor area of 164,125 square meters.

As at past K fairs, machinery and equipment producers account for the majority of exhibitors - 1,911 - followed by 635 raw materials producers, 271 producers of semi-finished products and technical parts and 185 service providers.

The number of German exhibitors is down slightly from 1,076 at K2007 to 1,131 at K 2010. But domestic companies still account for the largest share – 40 percent – whether measured by number or floor space.

However, 2,026 exhibitors – 60 percent of the total – come from outside Germany. Italy takes the lead among overseas countries, with 413 exhibitors, followed by China with 247. Taiwan at 139 takes third position, slightly ahead of France at 126, which is in turn ahead of India at 122 and 110 from the United States.

Well over 200,000 visitors are expected to visit the show - 242,000 visitors attended the K2007 event.

Speaking in his role as president of the K2010 exhibitors advisory council, Ulrich Reifenhäuser spoke at the briefing about the difficult times the industry has seen since the 2007 event. “We had this terrible crisis, the biggest catastrophe that the machinery industry has ever experienced,” he said.

However, Reifenhäuser said he remained optimistic and predicted the long-term average 9 percent growth rate of the plastics industry seen since 1950 will not be broken by the recent recession. “Readiness for change is much greater in a period of crisis,” he said.

Despite short-time working in the plastics machinery industry, German government measures have ensured that experienced staff are on hand to handle the strong growth now being experienced, Reifenhäuser said.

Reifenhäuser’s growth comments have since been confirmed by the German VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association, of which Ulrich Reifenhäuser is also chairman, which raised its forecast for sector sales growth in 2010 from 11 to 15 percent.

Meanwhile, Messe Düsseldorf CEO Werner Matthias Dornscheidt shared some key show data at the briefing. He said some 5,000 vehicles and 20,000 people are involved in the build up of the fair, which has seen 3,000 trucks, including 31 exceptional heavy transporters, on the showground.

Despite 23 hotel ships moored along the Rhein, Dornscheidt said rooms in hotels and private quarters have once again been largely taken up. He also said that Messe Düsseldorf has successfully managed to put a stop to a number of intermediaries that had been buying up hotel room space and selling it at twice the normal price.

Dornscheidt added that local hotels should only be applying modest premiums over their regular rates. “It is excessive if you have to pay 500 euros for a night in the Novotel,” he said.

Hotels, restaurants and taxi companies will, of course, benefit from the extra trade that a quarter of a million visitors will bring to the city of Düsseldorf. Local public transport operators will not benefit financially, however, as local transport costs are included with fair entrance tickets.