The volume of material converted in 2003 was up by less than 1%

Italian plastics converters reported a slight increase in the volume of material that they processed last year. According to figures from consultancy Plastic Consult – on behalf of Italian converters’ trade association Unionplast – the total volume of finished and semi-finished products reached 7.6 million tonnes in 2003, an increase of nearly 1% on the previous year.

At the same time, turnover also picked up – increasing 1% to an estimated E15.9bn – but investment was down around 3% to E1.8bn.

Extrusion rose by 1.4% to account for 52% of the total market (3.9 million tonnes). Injection moulding, which accounts for just over a quarter of the total (2 million tonnes), fell very slightly, but blow moulding rose by 6% and now accounts for more than 8% of the total (635,000 tonnes). Other processes accounted for 14%.