METPACK 2026 concluded with record-breaking numbers, solidifying its status as the leading trade fair for the metal packaging industry. The four-day international trade fair, held at Messe Essen from 5–8 May, drew an unprecedented crowd of over 7,000 high-quality trade visitors demonstrating a strong willingness to invest.
More than 350 exhibitors from 32 countries presented solutions, technologies, and services across the entire value chain. For four days, Essen became the global meeting place for an industry that is consistently advancing sustainability, efficiency, and digitalisation.
“The strong increase in visitors impressively demonstrates the momentum in this industry and the importance of METPACK as the world’s leading trade fair. It was clear here how companies are developing innovations, strengthening the circular economy, leveraging efficiency potential, and advancing digital tools for quality, design, and production. METPACK has once again proven that metal packaging is technologically sophisticated, relevant to sustainability, and fit for the future,” observes Messe Essen CEO Oliver P. Kuhrt.
Global Platform for Innovation and Exchange
From the exhibitors’ perspective, METPACK proved to be the central platform for new products, world premieres, and personal exchange within the international metal packaging industry. Companies from around the world presented forward-looking solutions for metal printing, coating, finishing, process control, and resource efficiency.
“Metpack is always a great opportunity for the metal packaging industry to meet people, to present innovations and developments, to share experiences and ideas,” says Pier Ugo Bocchio, CEO and founder of Metlac.
Jude Dilan Mathuranayagam, Service Sales Manager at Canline, also draws a positive conclusion: “METPACK 2026 was a great success for us! Together with NPB Automation, IPS, Altek, and our new group member Veldkamp, we demonstrated at our shared stand what modern end handling looks like today. In particular, the new Dynamic Hopper stacking technology and the Revolving Twist changeover system attracted strong interest from trade visitors. The intensive international exchange at METPACK with customers and new prospects—especially from Asia, Europe, and South Africa—showed how open the industry is to new solutions.”
The high level of international participation and the professional quality of the discussions underscored METPACK’s role as a global industry meeting place. Italy, the UK, and the US led the ranking of countries of origin. The share of international visitors was a strong 81%.
High-Impact Decision Makers Dominate Visitor Profile
METPACK 2026 was a highly sought-after ordering and investment platform. An impressive 87% of all trade fair visitors wielded direct influence on their companies’ procurement decisions. 23% of surveyed visitors stated that they placed orders directly at the trade fair, with an additional 21% planning follow-up investments. The exhibiting companies expressed immense confidence in the market, with 57% forecasting an increase in future sales.
Wolfgang Niemsch, Lanico Maschinenbau Otto Niemsch GmbH Managing Director and METPACK Committee Chair, emphasises, “METPACK more than positively surprised us this year. What stands out is the high quality of the professional discussions, which in many cases went far beyond an initial exchange and already resulted in concrete investment decisions. For us as a machine manufacturer, this strong demand is an important signal and confirms the relevance of our solutions in the market. That makes us all the more excited as we look ahead to METPACK 2029.”
‘Talk in a Can’ Premieres
With the new ‘Talk in a Can’ forum format, METPACK 2026 provided an additional source of momentum. At the heart of the trade fair activity in Hall 2, a stage was created for expert talks, product presentations, panels, podcasts, and networking. The format offered exhibitors, visitors, media representatives, and partners compact knowledge transfer and direct exchange.
The content ranged from market developments and recycling to coating, digitalisation, and AI, as well as energy efficiency, machine performance, and new packaging solutions. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which enters into force this year, also played an important role and was a topic in high demand.
Technical Depth at METPACK Conference
The METPACK Conference reaffirmed the technical and strategic relevance of the world’s leading trade fair. International experts examined key challenges and future topics for the industry. In her keynote, Clarissa Odewald, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp Rasselstein GmbH, focused on the structural transformation of the metal packaging industry, specifically addressing decarbonisation, geopolitical uncertainties, volatile energy and raw material markets, and growing regulatory requirements.
Additional topics included modern packaging steels, material efficiency, lightweighting, higher recycled content, new packaging and process solutions, coating technologies, and PVC-free closures for food contact applications.
METPACK Innovation Awards 2026: Sustainability Meets Efficiency
The METPACK Innovation Awards 2026 captured international attention this year by honouring groundbreaking developments in the metal packaging sector. The top gold honour was awarded to MW Lak Solutions for developing a UV LED-curable white external basecoat that significantly reduces VOC emissions, energy consumption, and carbon footprints. Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint secured the silver award for its fully automated inline control system of coating film thickness. Rounding out the top innovations, the bronze award went to Sun Chemical for an AI-assisted solution for colour matching and digital direct-to-can proofing developed together with CMA Imaging.
The award-winning solutions indicated that the industry is heading towards more resource-efficient production processes, higher process reliability, digital quality assurance, and a stronger connection between sustainability and industrial efficiency. METPACK 2026 was a clear demonstration of how the metal packaging industry is actively advancing technological responses to regulatory and economic challenges.
The next edition of METPACK will be held at the same venue in May 2029.
