Precast concrete industry reports growth
The construction economy is in a positive mood, and so were the delegates at this year’s BetonTage convention in Neu-Ulm. Some 2100 participants from 20 different countries attended the get-together of the precast concrete industry from 14.02. – 16.02.2017. Taking “Shaping places for people” as its theme, the traditional event presented a comprehensive specialist programme.
The focus was on recent developments in the fields of concrete engineering, manufacturing processes and standardization. The fully booked accompanying exhibition with a total of 160 stands provided an overview of new developments in the machinery, software and supplier industries. Ample opportunity for networking was provided to the visitors during the coffee breaks, communication evening and exhibitors’ event.
Taking the broader view
The convention was opened by extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner. In his speech on “risk management”, he talked about experiencing his limits and drew interesting analogies to business situations.
Within the context of the international focus of the event – BetonTage asia will take place in Shanghai for the fourth time in autumn – architect Zhang Hua from the Xian Dai Architectural Design Group provided information on the use of precast elements in China. According to the government’s economic plan, the market share of precast concrete elements used in multi-storey apartment building is to be increased to 50 % by 2025.
Increasing turnover, stagnating prices
The market in Germany is also on a positive trend. The upward trend in the production of precast concrete elements emerging over the past two years could be continued in 2016. The companies generated a turnover of approximately € 5.75 bill., which equalled an increase of 4 %. A further increase in turnover of up to 3 % is expected for the current year.
Research and building practice
The specialist programme focussed on product-specific panels that covered all relevant segments of the precast concrete industry and included contributions ranging from precast concrete construction, lightweight concrete and concrete ashlar all the way to concrete products used in road construction, landscaping and garden architecture, pipeline construction and small waste-water treatment plants. The presentations also linked up research and building practice, with current issues of practical relevance also being discussed. In addition, two hands-on workshops addressed problems encountered in day-to-day operations.
Innovation Prize awarded
The annual Innovation Prize of the Supplier Industry for Structural Concrete Products is awarded to honour the achievements of the industry’s market partners. This year’s winner is the Institute for Structural Design at Braunschweig University of Technology, which was awarded the prize for the development of an innovative precision formwork made 100 % of recyclable industrial wax. With this no-waste wax formwork, structural concrete products of virtually any geometric design, including highly complex ones, can be manufactured economically with utmost precision.
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