By Martin Bayliss
The
northern spring is with us again, bringing as usual a bumper
crop of conferences and exhibitions. This year, the European
scene is particularly rich in events. Too rich, some might say,
but a great opportunity to travel and learn. Between the beginning
of March and the end of June those involved in the tissue business
may have been tempted by at least half a dozen significant events.
Top of the list without a doubt are SPCI in Stockholm and DRUPA
in Dusseldorf, the former bringing pulp and paper industry executives
from all around the world, the latter doing much the same thing
on a much larger scale for the printing and related industries.
DRUPA, indeed, is so large that hotel rooms are hard to find
within 100 km of the fair.
Also in June, Zellcheming - now 103 years old - hosts the German
paper industry, as it has done from time immemorial, this year
in Wiesbaden. Zellcheming is on an altogether smaller scale than
the other two shows mentioned above but it is still an important
event for the German paper industry.
A little further afield, April saw CMP Asia - the owner of
Tissue World magazine - hold the ninth Asian paper conference
and exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand. None of the above meetings
specifically targets the tissue business, though many of the
companies attending and much of the technology are relevant to
our industry. But tissue, too, is having an extraordinarily busy
four months in terms of important international meetings. Early
in March, PTS held its annual meeting in Munich. We carry a short
report on the conference this month. It was generally considered
a stimulating couple of days and the proceedings, published by
PTS as a bound volume, attest to the high quality of the speakers
and papers.
PTS was followed closely by Tissue World Americas, which was
again held in Miami. The conference (which attracted 300 delegates)
and the exhibition which ran alongside it were adjudged great
successes by the majority of those attending. So much so that
space has again been booked in Miami for March 2010 and many
companies have already reserved stands. Starting on page 21 of
the magazine we carry an extensive report on TW Americas.
As we go to press in early May, Tissue World magazine staff
are preparing to attend other meetings that will have taken place
by the time most of you read this.
The first, a customer seminar organised by Hercules Chemicals
and Metso Paper in Dubai, is a relatively small event catering
to the major players in the fast developing Middle East market.
Tissue World magazine will run a report in July.
Tissue Russia, scheduled to be held 3 June in St Petersburg
will offer a small window of opportunity for those interested
in this potentially major market to meet some of the movers and
shakers in the Russian industry and learn more about its development
and about market trends.
Tissue World plans to attend this event and will report not
only on the conference but also on the Russian tissue business
as a whole in July. The Russian economy has been growing rapidly
now for most of the last 10 years and prospects seem good for
continued expansion on the back of massive natural-resource-based
wealth and a population of around 140 million. To put it in perspective,
this is about the same as the population of all the other former
Communist countries of Europe put together, including those,
such as Ukraine (50 million) that were part of the USSR.
According to the CIA, “Russia ended 2007 with its ninth
straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually since the financial
crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and a relatively cheap
rouble initially drove this growth, since 2003 consumer demand
and, more recently, investment have played a significant role.
Over the last six years, fixed capital investments have averaged
real gains greater than 10%/yr and personal incomes have achieved
real gains more than 12%/yr.
“During this time, poverty has declined steadily and
the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved
its international financial position since the 1998 financial
crisis. The federal budget has run surpluses since 2001 and ended
2007 with a surplus of about 3% of GDP. Over the past several
years, Russia has used its stabilisation fund based on oil taxes
to prepay all Soviet-era sovereign debt to Paris Club creditors
and the IMF.
“Foreign debt is approximately one-third of GDP. The
state component of foreign debt has declined, but commercial
debt to foreigners has risen strongly. Oil export earnings have
allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from $12 billion
in 1999 to some $470 billion at year end 2007, the third largest
reserves in the world.”
“Foreign direct investment [has risen] from $14.6 billion
in 2005 to approximately $45 billion in 2007. In 2007, Russia's
GDP grew 7.6%, led by non-tradable services and goods for the
domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and
exports.”
It sounds like inviting territory for those with the knowhow
and funds to
invest, as well
as an encouraging environment for the increasingly well-to-do
Russian population. Don't miss our report next month. See you
in St Petersburg? TW
