UTECH Europe 2006: Polyurethanes industry fast tracks to Maastricht

For the international polyurethanes sector all roads lead next year to the Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre (MECC), Maastricht, The Netherlands, the new venue for UTECH Europe -- the world’s No 1 forum for the best in polyurethanes machinery, materials, equipment, products and services.

UTECH Europe 2006, which takes place 28-30 March, will be biggest in the event’s history with over 100 companies expected to occupy around 5000 m² of exhibition space. The record exhibitor numbers have been boosted by a strong presence from the world’s fastest growing economies, including at least 10 leading companies from China.

The ultra-modern MECC will be the focal point for virtually every major company in the polyurethanes industry over the three days of the event. The list of confirmed exhibitors features Huntsman, BASF/Elastogran, Bayer Material Science, Air Products, Repsol, Arkema, Cannon, Baulé, Solvay Fluor, GE Specialty Materials, Tosoh, Invista, Degussa/Goldschmidt, Chemtura, Dow Chemicals and many other leading players.

This enormous level of interest reflects UTECH Europe’s track record in delivering opportunities for polyurethanes firms of all sizes to win business and establish new successful partnerships. Any company still planning to exhibit should book now as there is strong demand for the limited remaining stand space.

As before, UTECH Europe will attract thousands of high powered visitors, many seeking new polyurethane-based solutions for markets worldwide. They will include designers, specifiers and other key decision makers in end user industries such as automotive, construction, engineering, footwear, furnishing, medical and transport.

The exhibition will also welcome hundreds of delegates attending the associated three-day UTECH Europe conference, organised by Crain Communications Ltd, publishers of Urethanes Technology magazine.

UTECH Europe visitors will find Maastricht and the MECC very easy to reach. The city has its own airport and is within about an hour’s drive of three international airports –Brussels, Cologne and Düsseldorf-- as well as being served by major motorway and international rail connections.

At Brussels International Airport, the exhibition organisers are running special transfer buses to and from the MECC on 27, 28, 29 and 30 March. Hostesses at a special UTECH Europe counter in the airport’s central Arrivals Hall will personally direct visitors to their buses.

Situated near where the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany

meet, Maastricht is a truly international city. This historic location in the heart of Europe will mark a new phase in development of the triennial UTECH Europe event, which has been staged in The Hague since its launch in 1986.

UTECH Europe 2006 takes place at a critical time in the development of the European polyurethanes industry. Companies are adapting to rising feedstock costs and supply issues as well as to ever stricter environmental and health & safety requirements.

Many markets are, meanwhile, undergoing radical change due to the emergence of China as an industrial powerhouse and the rapid development of Central and Eastern Europe as a low-cost manufacturing base.

Over the last three decades, however, UTECH Europe has showcased the European polyurethanes industry’s ability to rise to the toughest challenges thanks to its strong technology base and spirit of innovation. In Maastricht next March, the industry will again present world class solutions, including many technologies that contribute to sustainable development and protection of the global environment.

UTECH Europe 2006 in Maastricht will again be the world’s leading forum for players in the polyurethanes business to meet, exchange ideas and forge the new partnerships to shape the future success of this dynamic international industry.

Reader enquiries

UTECH Europe

Netherlands

Tel +31 547 27 15 66

marleen@​ipi-bv.nl