German production volumes increased by 5% in the first half of 2004

Production of plastics materials in Germany increased by 5.0% in the first half of 2004 to 9.2m tonnes compared with the first half of 2003, said the VKE association of German plastics producers. The growth rate compares with a more modest increase of 1.8% in the whole of 2003.

PVC led the pack with a 10.3% increase, followed by polystyrene and EPS with 6.0%, PP with 5.5% and PE 4.7%, VKE reported. Turnover grew even faster than production, with sales of plastics materials up by 6.6% in the seven months to July to E11.6bn. Turnover growth in domestic and foreign sales were similar at 6.8% and 6.4% respectively.

In volume terms, exports grew by 15.4% to 5.5m tonnes in the first half, compared with imports of 3.4m tonnes which were 6.7% higher than in the first half of 2003.