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JUL / AUG 2024
Another family reunion
I am writing this one week after returning from Chemspec Europe 2024 at Messe Düsseldorf in Germany , complete with the inevitable cold acquired on the outbound flight , in the hall itself , at an evening ’ s entertainment watching Germany enjoy an easy victory over Hungary among fans at the Schumacher Brewery [ insert own joke here ], or at the fanzone by the Rhine .
This was the 37th iteration of the show that began in the corridors and rooms of a hotel at Manchester airport in 1986 . It is a scary thought that I have been to more than half of them . I first went at Basel in 2002 and missed only 2017-18 , when I was working elsewhere , and 2020 , which did not happen because of COVID-19 . Even so , there are plenty who have been coming for much longer .
The organisers , Reed , subsequently announced that the show had 404 exhibitors from 27 countries on a record net exhibition space of 7,627 m ², with trade visitor numbers up by 9.4 % on 2023 to 4,548 from 72 countries . They came mainly from management , commercial , purchasing and procurement , and R & D , and from such diverse industry sectors as fine chemicals , agrochemicals , pharmaceuticals , paint and coatings , and personal care . There were also over 50 sessions within the conference programme , including panel discussions , exhibitor presentations and keynote sessions .
Those are just the raw numbers , though . Chemspec Europe has never really been about numbers ; it is much more about an industry community coming together once a year in a way that is not really possible at a very big event . It also means that senior figures have time to talk with journalists . You can see those we did on camera on our LinkedIn feed ( www . linkedin . com / company / speciality-chemicals-magazine /).
One interviewee was the new CEO of Saltigo , Michael Schäfer , who was attending Chemspec for the first time since assuming the position in February . That interview will form a feature article in our biweekly newsletter before long . Naturally I asked him how he was finding the show .
“ I love it ,” he said – three times , in fact . “ It started with a welcome event here on the first evening . You feel like you are coming into a family that knows you . People don ’ t look at the faces any more , they just look at the sign . ‘ Are you still the same company ? Has anything changed ? Were you taken over ?’” The community feel is what struck him above all . Provided you are ready to plunge into it , you soon become part of it .
Another of my interviewees was Dr Markus Blocher , CEO of the Swiss CDMO Dottikon Exclusive Synthesis . It is a good illustration of the nature of this industry that ( a ) Dottikon ES does not have a marketing communications function ; he does it himself by making himself available when you come to their stand and ( b ), despite being in the process of building the largest multi-purpose facility in the industry right now , the company has not made much , if any , noise about it . It took a meeting at Chemspec Europe to get the story in full ( see page 7 ).
Dottikon ES ’ s investment is also clearly a vote of confidence both in European manufacturing and in small molecules . These remain the lifeblood of the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries , even if the investment community cannot see beyond the newer , ‘ sexier ’ biologics . At a time when sustainability , product carbon footprints and supply chain security are our key concerns – and they were certainly all the talk in Düsseldorf – it remains something that we should be celebrating .
Dr Andrew Warmington
EDITOR – SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE
SPECCHEMONLINE
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