JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #106 - July 2016 - 5

to the decision of choosing
materials for new, innovative
and long-lasting industrial
applications.
JCM: Unsurprisingly, there is a
strong competition between
regions and associations. How
do you handle this situation?

Dr. M. E. : Each of the
four member organisations of
Composites Germany claims
to act supra-regionally, or even
Germany-wide. Meanwhile,
Composites Germany discusses options of possible future
co-operations with other organisations, including regional
ones. Composites Germany
as an umbrella organisation
always aims to represent the
entire German composites
industry. Therefore, regional
interests or focuses are not
emphasised.
JCM: As President of Composites Germany, how do you
see the European composites
market, and more specifically
the German composites market,
evolving in 2016?

Dr. M. E. : The European
composites market was still
growing in 2015 with, on
average, 2% for thermosets
and 5% for thermoplastics, as
indicated by the AVK reports.
In Germany, the thermoset
market grew by 4% and the
thermoplastics market even
by 6% (2015). I expect these
figures to be similar in 2016,
maybe even with a light upside
potential for thermoplastics.
In Germany, there is a specific
focus on the automotive industry, especially high-volume
production. We expect the
strongest growth to be in
the areas of short and long
fibre-reinforced plastics (LFT

types). Furthermore, we
estimate that thermoplastics,
including short and long fibre
reinforcements, will make
up to 50% of the European
market in the short term while
the thermoset composites
market will be focusing on
large and complex structures
such as wind rotor blades,
pipes and vessels, for example.
Last year's growth is expected
to continue in the next few
quarters at least. We are also
seeing a very nice revival in
automotive SMC and BMC
with new applications and new
high-performance SMC compounds also using continuous
fibres and even carbon fibres as
reinforcement.
As for Germany, 29% of the
country's current GDP is
linked to production compared to 13% in France and
17% in the UK. This is, among
others, due to the pioneering
of Airbus in aerospace in the
late 60s, or lately the pioneering of BMW, who always have
been a technology and innovation driver, with their carbon
composites i3 electric cars.
Personally, I also think that
it is extremely beneficial for
a common growth to bring
together research and industry
in the country and join forces.
JCM: Germany is the first composites market in Europe. What
are the reasons behind this
ascendancy?

Dr. M. E. : Medium-sized

companies, which are traditionally active in plastic and
composite moulding, as well
as companies specialised in
mechanical engineering, e.g.
tooling, are considered to be
the backbone of the German
market. The automated mass
production of composites is a

key technology for lightweight
construction in the German
industry. The governmental
lobbying regarding lightweight
material systems as well as the
funding of the excellence initiative in the field of research
and development are particularly appreciated here.
In particular, lobbying is a key
part for high wage countries.
Lobbying and networking are
a strong part of Composite
Germany's activity. Thus, we
have very good contacts with
German politicians. Next
week, for example, Dr. Elmar
Witten, Managing Director
of AVK and Spokesperson of
Composites Germany, and myself will meet again with Cem
Özdemir, Federal Chairman of
the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
party, Germany's ecologically
oriented party, in order to
discuss how to strengthen the
use of innovative lightweight
materials in the country.
The use of composite solutions
is increasing in various industrial sectors and applications.
Hence, the constant growth of
the aerospace industry leads
to a big success story for the
use of lightweight materials
where the Airbus production
chain is of course a huge factor.
In Germany, the automotive
and wind energy sectors have
been traditionally very strong
and here, advanced materials
are also increasingly used. The
building and infrastructure
sector has also seen intense
growth over the past months
due to more investments in
residential and industrial
applications. Overall, Germany stands for the development
of sustainable solutions using
renewable energies, as is the
case in lightweight material
solutions. While in SouthNo106 July 2016 /

ern Europe, the rate of using
composites partially decreased
by about a quarter in comparison with a few years ago; the
production volume, specifically for GRP, did not decrease
that much during the period of
financial and economic crisis
in recent years. Industries like
building & infrastructure or
boat building, for example,
have not settled back on their
previous levels. Moreover,
despite the general European trends, Germany records
continuous and above-average
growth in composite production volumes.
JCM: Which sectors are currently driving the market?

Dr. M. E. : It is still to a
large extend the automotive
sector, with the need for
weight saving in order to
further reduce CO2 emissions,
and the aerospace sector, with
its long-term growth prospects.
JCM: According to you, what
are the next challenges for the
composites industry here in
Germany but also internationally?

Dr. M. E. : After the hype in
the automotive sector, which
was due to the use of carbon
fibres, a next step needs to be
a sharp reduction of processing costs. As the automotive
industry, for example, does
not want to pay all the cost of
lightweight materials, we need
to work on more affordable solutions. We also need
to develop reliable, robust
production processes for high
volumes, such as thermoplastic
hybrid moulding and high-performance SMC. n
More information:
www.composites-germany.org

jec composites magazine 5
http://www.composites-germany.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #106 - July 2016
