With over 7,000 trade visitors, the world’s leading trade fair for the metal packaging industry set a new visitor record at Messe Essen from 5 to 8 May 2026. More than 350 exhibitors from 32 countries presented solutions, technologies and services along the entire value chain at Metpack. For four days, Essen became the global meeting place for an industry that is consistently advancing sustainability, efficiency and digitalization.
“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,” summarizes Oliver P Kuhrt, CEO of Messe Essen.
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 metalpackaging 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 of 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 United Kingdom and the United States led the ranking of countries of origin. The share of international visitors was a strong 81 percent.
High level of decision-making authority among visitors
Metpack 2026 was a highly sought-after ordering and investment platform. Eighty-seven percent of trade fair visitors have a direct influence on procurement decisions in their companies. Twenty-three percent of surveyed visitors stated that they placed orders directly at the trade fair; a further 21% are planning follow-up investments. 57% of exhibiting companies expect sales to increase in the future.
Wolfgang Niemsch, managing director of Lanico Maschinenbau Otto Niemsch GmbH and Chair of the Metpack Committee, confirms, “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.”
Premiere for ‘Talk in a Can’
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, digitalization 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 the 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, focused on the structural transformation of the metal packaging industry – with a view to decarbonization, 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: Sustainability meets efficiency
The Metpack Innovation Awards 2026 also attracted international attention. Gold went to MW LAK Solutions Srl for a UV LED-curable white external basecoat that can significantly reduce VOC emissions, energy consumption and the carbon footprint.
“Winning the Metpack Innovation Award in Gold is a meaningful recognition for both me and MW Lak Solutions and the Edson team. It validates the disciplined formulation work behind our UV-LED External White Basecoat and confirms that our direction – lower energy usage, lower VOCs, and higher process stability – is the right one for the industry. We exhibit at Metpack because it is the most important global platform for technical dialogue in metal packaging. It is where converters, equipment manufacturers, and brand owners come to evaluate real, industrially viable innovation. The discussions this year have been extremely constructive. Visitors are particularly interested in solutions that reduce energy consumption, improve repeatability, and simplify production workflows. Our UV-LED External White Basecoat has been in high demand because it delivers measurable improvements exactly in these areas,” says Alessandro Maloberti, director at MW LAK Solutions.
Silver went to Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint for a system for fully automated inline control of coating film thickness. Bronze went to Sun Chemical for an AI-assisted solution for color matching and digital direct-to-can proofing developed together with CMA Imaging.
The award-winning solutions show where the industry is heading: toward more resource-efficient production processes, higher process reliability, digital quality assurance, and a stronger connection between sustainability and industrial efficiency. Metpack 2026 thus made clear that the metal packaging industry is actively advancing technological responses to regulatory and economic challenges.
High intention to participate again
The outlook is also positive: 95% of exhibitors and 92 percent of visitors already stated that they intend to take part in the next Metpack. The next world’s leading trade fair for metal packaging will take place in May 2029, at Messe Essen.
