R+T ASIA SETS NEW RECORDS

Held in February, R+T Asia once again lived up to its reputation as the most important trade fair for sun protection systems in Asia with a very pronounced increase in the number of exhibitors and visitors and the amount of exhibition space.

With 642 exhibitors (compared to 507 in 2018) and 41,000 visitors, this year’s Shanghai show was widely reported as a success.

Richard Macalister from Blinds in Print told WFA that the size and quality of the stands was “eye-opening”, with many of the Asian manufacturers adopting a European look, obviously their cue from exhibitors at last year’s Stuttgart show.

“This was very apparent in the Hall exhibiting motorisation and automation where technology is developing at an extraordinary rate and the stands demonstrate this; the A-OK display is an example of this.”

Macalister said one thing that Australian visitors struggle to understand is the emphasis that Chinese companies place on Zebra Blinds and associated products.

“In one hall it seemed that every second stand displayed some variation of the Zebra Blind, while this product hardly caused a ripple in the market down under, since it was introduced a decade ago.”

However, there were some world class products on display, he added.

“Probably the best product to be launched in the last 12 months, being displayed at R+T Stuttgart and Shanghai is the Smart Curtain or Veri Shade.”

“This innovative and elegant product, with the look and feel of a curtain and versatility of a blind, is about to make a considerable impact in the Australian market. It is currently being imported by Pacific Wholesale and fabricated by HD, Pinz and Watsons Blinds.”

Macalister said fabric quality issues that initially affected the product have now been overcome though there are some challenges associated with manufacturing the blind.

GLOBAL EXHIBITORS ON SHOW
Foreign exhibitors included Berteks, the large family owned, vertically integrated, textile manufacturer from Turkey that is soon to celebrate its hundredth birthday.

Berteks made a considerable impact on the world sun screen market, launching a massive range of 100% polyester screen fabric. According to Huseyn Topuz, Global Sales Manager, Berteks is about to launch an extensive range of acoustic fabrics for curtains, blinds and panels. There is a substantial market for sound absorbing and noise reduction fabrics, Topuz said, and Australia is a target market.

Another Turkish company, Kirayteks Tekstil, noted customers had come to Shanghai from as far away as the USA and South America.

“R+T Asia is also organised very professionally, we can only recommend everyone to take part in this trade fair.” Onur Kirayoglu, Managing Director of Kirayteks Tekstil said.

In the year following R+T in Stuttgart, exhibitors from 21 countries, including Belgium, Germany, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Turkey and the USA, presented their products and services. In addition to companies which were represented for the first time, the trade fair also attracted exhibitors from Europe who now want to become active in China after a break of a few years.

New exhibitors at R+T Asia included Vertilux (USA) and Gaviota (Spain).

Ricardo Giner, Managing Director of Gaviota, was impressed with his company’s inaugural participation in the trade fair.

“This was truly a great success. We are very satisfied. We fully attained our objective of getting to know the Asian market and understanding it better.”

“We had customers from Korea and Japan, the entire region on our stand, but also from South America and India. We will definitely come back again next year.”