FAIRS & EVENTSLIGNA
FAIRS & EVENTSLIGNA 2025WOODWORKING COMMUNITY SEES LIGNA 2025 AS THE MOST IMPORTANTMILESTONE OF THE YEARLIGNA in Hanover from 26 to 30 May 2025will be one of the most important milestonesfor the woodworking and wood processingindustry on the way to the hopedforindustry turnaround. Three months beforethe trade show opens its gates in its50th anniversary year, more than 1,200exhibitors from all over the world occupyaround 112,000 square metres of exhibitionspace, sending a strong signal in achallenging industry situation.“LIGNA is currently almost at the same levelas the previous event,” says Dr. Jochen Köckler,Chairman of the Executive Board, DeutscheMesse AG. “In view of the economic conditions,we are very grateful to everyone involved fortheir confidence in LIGNA. We are convincedthat the world’s leading trade fair for the industrywill ensure greater productivity and sustainabilitythrough fantastic innovations and thusprovide the much-needed motivation and confidencefor investments.”“Hardly any exhibitor skips LIGNA – and forgood reason. Especially in challenging times, directdialogue with customers is crucial to generatingnew investment momentum through innovativesolutions. LIGNA is the platform wherepioneering technologies are presented to an internationalaudience of experts. And it’s not justmanufacturers who cannot afford to miss thisopportunity – customers, too, must be there, asthe future course of the industry is set right herein Hanover,” says Dr. Bernhard Dirr, ManagingDirector of the VDMA Woodworking MachineryAssociation, Frankfurt am Main.MOTIVATION FOR EMERGING FROM THEDOWNTURNStephanie Wagner, Head of LIGNA atDeutsche Messe AG, sees the strong industry responseto LIGNA as a clear vote of confidence:“We are looking forward to a powerful LIGNAanniversary edition and are convinced that thetrade fair, together with its exhibitors and visitors,has the potential to inspire renewed confidencein the market. It wouldn’t be the first timethat LIGNA has served as the decisive catalystfor restarting the economic engine.”The significance of LIGNA as the world’sleading trade fair remains strong, and constructivedialogue at LIGNA 2025 is morecrucial than ever. Samiron Mondal, CEO ofSiempelkamp Business Unit Capital, emphasizes:“LIGNA is the ideal forum for us to meetglobal customers, showcase our innovations,and bring the trade fair’s motto – ‘Linking people,driving innovation’ – to life. Moreover, wegreatly benefit from the exchange of ideas atthe event.” Like Mondal, whose company hasbeen exhibiting at LIGNA since its inception,Rudolf Eickhoff, Technical Managing Directorof Venjakob, also underscores the importanceof LIGNA 2025: “We are currently facing intensecompetition in the industry, with decliningsales in some areas. This makes it all themore important to discuss the latest sustainableproduction methods to ensure our customerscan remain competitive in the long run.We firmly believe that direct contact at thetrade fair not only fosters trust but also laysthe foundation for successful projects.”LIGNA CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO SCENARIOSIndustry experts and market observers believethat the woodworking and wood processingindustry – under pressure in recent months,particularly in Europe – could see a recoveryin the second half of the year. However, ongoingeconomic challenges are fueling uncertaintyand eroding business confidence. Unclear politicaldevelopments and their economic impacthave also led to delays in crucial investmentdecisions.Dr. Jochen Köckler remarks: “We are navigatingpolitically tense times concerning tariffsand exchange rates – something many ofus have never experienced before. The Germanfederal elections and the outcome of the U.S.presidency will bring clarity. Regardless ofbroader economic conditions, the woodworkingand wood processing industry remains indispensable.Wood, as a raw material, is the ultimatesymbol of CO₂ storage and sustainability.”INDUSTRY, TRADE, AND FORESTRY: SHAPINGTHE FUTURE TOGETHERThe three key themes of LIGNA 2025 –CONNECTIVITY, SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION,and ENGINEERED WOOD – are specificallydesigned to engage stakeholders across thewoodworking community, including industry,trade, and forestry. “The digital connectivityfor a sustainable wood industry along the entirevalue chain, with wood and wood-basedmaterials as the materials of the future – thissummarizes in one sentence for what industry,craftsmanship, and forestry want to stand fortogether in the future,” says Stephanie Wager.She adds: “With connectivity, sustainability, andfuture materials, the focus topics highlight thethree core elements of this transformation andwill be prominently featured across all seven exhibitionareas.”www.ligna.de32 No. 1 • March 2025
FAIRS & EVENTSinterzum 2025A COMPASS FOR THE INDUSTRY IN CHALLENGING TIMESThe world’s leading trade fair for furnitureproduction and interior design is seeing stronginternational demand. Interzum 2025 is onceagain set to be a must-attend gathering focusedon innovations and trends. The trade fair, whichwill take place in Cologne from 20 to 23 May2025, is a strong anchor for the industry, particularlyin times of economic change. The showcasesof new products, solutions and ideas atthe event equip the sector to jointly find answersto future challenges.Across the globe, suppliers to the furnitureindustry are facing different economic and socialchallenges in the individual regions and countriesin which they operate. Uncertain forecastsand the mounting pressure to improve sustainabilityare making long-term planning difficult.Against the backdrop of this dynamic outlook,interzum will once again serve as theworld’s most important business and networkingplatform for the sector. Companies see theleading international trade fair as a unique opportunityto develop solutions and innovationsto tackle the challenges that will define the comingyears.“We’re delighted with the consistently strongdemand for interzum,” says Maik Fischer, theevent’s director. “The return of renowned exhibitors,the presence of numerous market- leadingcompanies and the participation of many smalland medium-sized businesses show how relevantthe world’s leading trade fair is to the industry,especially in economically challenging times.”FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATIONUnder the banner of its new central theme,Rethinking Resources: Circular and BiobasedSolutions, interzum will send a strong signalin support of sustainable furniture production.The exhibition will present the industry-relevanttheme in all its facets and create a wide varietyof hands-on experiences for participants, rangingfrom a diverse event programme to showcasesof the exhibitors’ biocircular innovations.The speakers on the interzum Trend Stageand the interzum Product Stage and in the threeinterzum Trend Forums will present and discussinnovative ideas, studies and market-ready solutions.Many companies use interzum to revealtheir new product launches and technologiesto a global audience for the first time. TheRethinking Resources Boulevard will give exhibitorsthe opportunity to showcase their productsand visionary concepts that harness biobasedmaterials and the potential of the circular economy.The interzum award 2025, presented bya jury of international experts, will once againhonour outstanding products developed by suppliersto the furniture industry.www.interzum.comEuropean Wood-Based Panel SymposiumTHE NEW LIMITS ON FORMALDEHYDEA decidedly important 2024 for Catas,which has seen its role as a center of excellencein the wood-furniture sector reconfirmed at theinternational level – just in the last part of the2024. Sandro Ciroi, the laboratory’s referenceperson for issues related to formaldehyde emission– was invited as a speaker to the thirteenthedition of the European Wood-based panelSymposium, held in Hamburg, where he presenteda report that allowed the approximately400 technicians, operators, scientists and entrepreneurswho arrived from all over the world tolearn about the state of the art on the new limitsset by the European Regulations in terms offormaldehyde emission.The report – produced and presented fourhandedlywith Bettina Meyer, from the prestigiousFraunhofer WKI in Braunschweig – notonly outlined the evolution of the relevant regulations,but turned the spotlight on the expectedregulatory developments that will come intoeffect from August 2026 and that will reducethe “allowable” emissions by half comparedto the current limit, bringing them down to0.05 ppm (parts per million) or 0.062 milligramsper cubic meter.A European Regulation that will not onlyaffect wood-based panels but will progressivelyinvolve every other product that emits thissubstance, which is moreover “ubiquitous” innature.The two speakers also reminded those presentthat to date the European Chemicals Agencyhas not yet published the revised guidelines formeasuring formaldehyde release, expected lastOctober, a document essential for testing laboratoriesto properly attest compliance with thenew regulations.In anticipation of this indispensable “transition”,the Hamburg meeting – organized everytwo years by Fraunhofer WKI and EPF-European Panel Federation, in cooperation withthe International Association for technical issuesrelated to wood (iVTH) – saw the two techniciansinvolved in a conversation that certainlymade the challenging content offered to the audience“lighter.” They discussed the path leadingto the new revision of the “formaldehydechapter” contained in the European REACH regulation–“Registration, evaluation, authorizationand restrictions of chemicals,” the registerof all chemicals used on the continent withwhich restrictions may be associated – andwhich articles, goods and products are involvedor excluded.Ciroi and Meyer then reminded those presentof the existence of a voluntary workinggroup made up of the most important Europeanlaboratories in the wood-furniture sector, committedto drawing up a “Position Paper” thanksto which it will be possible to define all the technicalspecifications not present in the regulation,so as to enable the harmonization of testingactivities in the different countries, to thebenefit of companies that use wood-based panels,which will thus be able to compare themselveswith a certain scenario.Bettina Meyer and Sandro Ciroi concludedtheir contribution by trying to imagine, on thebasis of their studies and expertise, what thedictate of regulations to safeguard consumerprotection might be in the future, obviously regardingthe formaldehyde content of products,a topic that has always been at the attention oflegislators.www.catas.comNo. 1 • March 202533
