Industry was able to pass price rises on to customers
German producers of plastics packaging achieved a 5.8% increase in sales to E10.5bn in 2005 and a 2.2% increase in volume to around 3.8 million tonnes.
Thanks to the growing demand for food and consumer goods packaging and large transport containers, the industry was able to pass on increased costs in raw material to their customers in several stages.
The 60% increase in raw materials costs in 2004 had resulted in plastics packaging increasing in price in 2005 by an average of between 5% and 10%, it was stated by the industry’s trade association IK (Industrieverband Kunststoffverapckungen) at the end of February.
As a result, IK said that plastics packaging producers had experienced “a certain stabilisation” following years of low margins in the industry. IK’s main managing director Dr Jürgen Brüder said: “In this respect 2005 has gone better for the industry, despite temporary raw material shortages as the result of the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico”.
Growth in plastics packaging produced in 2005 was again led by plastic bottles with a 6.1% increase to 12,220 million bottles and an 11.2% growth in value to E1.046bn.
Looking ahead to 2006, IK expects 3% growth in volume and 5% in the value, to around E11bn.
