Turnover in the plastics packaging sector rose 2.5% last year compared with 2002

Turnover in the plastics packaging sector rose 2.5% last year compared with 2002

Growing exports have helped the German plastics packaging industry increase turnover and tonnage in 2003, the IK trade association has reported. The association said turnover had increased by 2.5% compared to the previous year to E9.5bn; tonnage rose 3% to 3.5 million tonnes. The growth was mainly due to exports, which climbed 8% and prevented job losses in the industry.

Long-term trends contributing to the growth were moves towards lightweight packaging, social economic developments requiring more small packing units and pre-packing of goods that have been previously sold in unpacked form. The largest plastic packaging sector was film, accounting for 2% growth to 1,525 million tonnes. Within this there was a 6% growth in composite packaging film. The only sector to decline was bags and sacks, down by 1% to 406 million tonnes, due to a further 6.6% growth in imports from countries with low-wage economies.

Looking ahead, IK warned that although there had been a turnaround in demand at the beginning of 2004, it had been accompanied by raw material cost increases of up to 20% since December. It remained optimistic on PET bottles, for which it forecasts demand will again grow strongly in 2004.