Record attendance expected at world's largest annual gathering of composites industry professionals.
Sold Out! That's the word from the JEC group as it prepares for its annual composites industry trade show in Paris. Slated for March 12-14 at the Paris Expo (Porte de Versailles, Paris, France), the JEC Europe Show is the acknowledged annual meeting place for the world's top composite professionals. Show organizers say that, for the 2013 edition, they've filled every display space on its 50,000m2 (538,195 ft2) show floor — an area equal to eight soccer fields. More than 1,100 exhibitors will be represented, 80 percent of them from outside France. Europe will account for 74 percent of the exhibitors, while 10 percent will come from the U.S. and 13 percent from emerging markets in Asia.
JEC Europe exhibitors serve a wide range of end markets. Automotive and marine top the list, each served by 14 percent of the exhibitors; 13 percent serve the aerospace sector, 12 percent support building/construction; 11 percent, rail transit; and 10 percent, wind energy. More than 31 percent of the exhibitors this year supply raw materials to composite manufacturers, 22 percent are equipment suppliers, and 39 percent offer processing or other services.
JEC's "Country of Honor" this year is Turkey, in recognition of its composites presence in the automotive and pipe/tank manufacturing markets. According to JEC figures, Turkey's composites manufacturers produce about 200,000 metric tonnes (440.9 million lb) of composite product per year, valued at €1 billion ($1.3 billion USD).
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