Brazilian sales of plastic composites rose by 9.9% to BRL 807m (EUR 263m) in the second quarter of 2013 compared with the same quarter last year, lifted by increased demand from the agricultural and transport automotive sectors, according to the Latin American Composite Materials Association (ALMACO, São Paulo / Brazil; www.almaco.org.br). About 54,600 t of raw materials were processed during the April-June period, representing a rise of 3.9%.

Compared with the first quarter, sales increased by 5.5% and processing rose by 5.4%, according to the data, compiled for ALMACO by consultancy Maxiquim (Porto Alegre / Brazil; www.maxiquim.com). Gilmar Lima, ALMACO’s president, said consumption was boosted in the second quarter by increased demand from manufacturers of tractors, trucks and wind turbines. However, margins across the composites production chain continue to be squeezed. “We have absorbed a series of re-adjustments in the raw materials, as well as in services and in the cost of raising funds for working capital and investments,” he remarked. “And, unfortunately, the speed of transfer to large customers is slow, bureaucratic and very difficult.”

Revenues from the Brazilian composites industry are forecast to go up by 9.4% to BRL 3.26 bn by 2013, according to Maxiquim. "Obtaining this result depends on the pace of government investments in civil construction, infrastructure and urban mobility,” said Lima.