ALUMINIUM World Trade Fair rescheduled to next year due to coronavirus

ALUMINIUM, the world's leading trade fair for the aluminium industry, will now take place May 18 to 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event was scheduled to be held in Düsseldorf from 6 to 8 October. The accompanying ALUMINIUM Conference will also be delayed into the next year.

The aluminium industry and international supply chains have been impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The demand for aluminium has declined due to pandemic.

“Together with exhibitors and partners, we had long hoped to be able to get the industry back on track for October. Unfortunately this hope has not been fulfilled. The vast majority of exhibitors have therefore expressed the wish that ALUMINIUM should be rescheduled to next year,” said Michael Freter, Managing Director of organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. “In collaboration with everyone, we have agreed that by postponing ALUMINIUM to 2021, we can offer the industry the best customer benefits and the best conditions for a successful event at that time,” Michael Freter continued.

Demand from automotive and aviation in new orders and call-offs decreased sharply and in some cases have come to a complete standstill, according to the German association Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (GDA).

“The decision to move ALUMINIUM to May next year is, in our view, absolutely the right one. The markets for aluminium have collapsed on a broad front. I do not yet see any recovery at present,” said Marius Baader, Managing Director of Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (GDA), the supporting association of ALUMINIUM.

“Our industry is currently focused on securing business and employment. Our materials and products are the solutions to the challenges of the present and the future. Sustainable mobility, energy-efficient buildings, closed loop, we offer all of this. Nevertheless, at the moment the focus is on stabilizing the economy. May 2021 is the right time for when ALUMINIUM can provide the important impulse for a new start. Also and especially for our customers,” Baader continued.

Dr. Gerd Goetz, Director General of the European Aluminium industry association commented: “Our main focus is currently on sustainable economic measures to overcome the crisis by the EU and its member states. The aluminium industry can play a key role in the realisation of a green European action plan. Therefore ALUMINIUM is important for us - especially next year, when the situation in the application industries will hopefully have eased again.”