CTT: Light upswing before the World Cup (Video)
That the economic crisis will continue in Russia was a matter of fact for all those who travelled to Moscow for this year's CTT trade show. Who had therefore lowered the expectations did not get disappointed either. On the contrary: The overall about 520 exhibitors from 26 countries located in hall 1 and 3 as well as in the open air area could enjoy visitors in sufficient numbers.
The quality of customer requests was also satisfying – or so several exhibitors said in conversations with the editors of BFT International. As reason for this, they mentioned above all the fact that Russian customers got used to the new ruble exchange rate in relation to the US dollar and euro respectively. Unlike the beginning of the crisis, when Russian customers realized the soaring prices for import goods with horror and refusal, they now take an exchange rate of 1 to 65 and 1 to 72 respectively for granted (the exchange rate effective at the beginning of June 2016). As a consequence, the customers consider specific investments more seriously again. So business life must go on eventually.
My street is being paved
In particular, the business activity in the concrete products segment seems to recover slightly at present. For one thing, this is due to the fact that several communities and subjects of the Russian Federation have launched programs for maintaining and expanding the infrastructure – in Moscow this is, for example, the program "My Street" (Moya ulitsa). For another thing, the 2018 FIFA World Cup is already clearly casting its shadows before. Not only stadiums are rehabilitated and constructed across the country, but also the courtyards of the arenas are being paved partially; and the associated infrastructure must be renewed to same extent, with concrete products being used frequently.
In line with this, the manufacturers of the supply industry to the manufacturing sector of concrete products were strongly represented at CTT trade show this year again – starting with the machinery and equipment manufacturers Rekers, Masa, Top-Werk/Hess, Omag, KBH, Poyatos, Techmatik and Frima to the manufacturers of molds Rampf and Kobra, the manufacturers of concrete curing systems Rotho, Sauter Plersch and Polarmatic through to the manufacturer of production boards Assyx.
To know where and how
Despite low oil prices, unfavorable exchange rates and the sanctions imposed by the U.S.A. and the European Union against Russia, business in the segment of structural precast concrete elements is also going on. Among others, the plant and equipment manufacturers Sommer, Weckenmann, Vollert, Ebawe, Echo Precast Engineering, Tecnocom, Weiler, Elematic, Nordimpianti, Euromecc and Wiggert, the specialists in reinforcement technology Progress, MEP, EVG, Eurobend and Schnell, mixer suppliers Sicoma and Liebherr as well as Pfeifer Seil- und Hebetechnik were present at the trade show.
"Funds are available anyway," stated, for example, Igor Chukov of Vollert Anlagenbau in a conversation with an editor of the BFT International trade magazine. He continued that the customer had to spend more money for an investment than before the onset of the crisis, but business must go on anyhow. This applies to both customers from the public and private sector implementing large projects, which are of particular interest to Vollert. Certainly, the company knowing where there is any demand and being able to submit an appropriate offer will conclude the contract.
The Russian economy seems to recover slightly in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup. Companies that didn't even want to participate in the CTT trade show with an own stand in the year of Bauma, at least had their sales personnel there, like Teka, the supplier of mixer technology, and Würschum, the manufacturer of metering systems.
Text: Christian Jahn, M.A.
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