PACKAGING MARKETS EUROPE
Four leading industry associations call on plastics producers to “urgently” invest in European production facilities / Supply security needs to be restored
For European plastics players, it hardly comes as news that the current situation on the PE and PP fronts especially is historically unprecedented. Not a day goes by, it seems, without one association or another expressing concern about the worsening supply situation (Plasteurope.com has reported extensively). Now Europe’s four largest plastics packaging organisations have joined hands, and are calling on polymer producers to invest “urgently” in European polymer production facilities.
In a joint press release, the UK’s Packaging and Films Association (PAFA, Nottingham; www.pafa.org.uk), the British Plastics Federation (BPF, London / UK; www.bpf.co.uk), the German industry association Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de) and the French plastic packaging industry association Elipso (Paris; www.elipso.org) said that “an urgent restoration of normal supply is imperative.”
In the current reality – including allocations for PE and PP, rapidly escalating ethylene prices and no indication of when the situation is expected to return to normal – the associations said they “want to avert any possibility that customers look to alternative materials to satisfy their needs.” All four industry groupings said they understood producers’ desire to invest more in the faster growing markets in Asia and the Americas, but pointed out that the resulting lack of investment in Europe means a lot of polymer plants are ageing and more likely to break down – which in turn means more frequent maintenance turnarounds as well as “forces majeures”. “Only new investment will correct this situation,” they added.
Pointing out that Europe is a global leader and innovation powerhouse for both plastics packaging technology and waste management organisation, recycling and the incorporation of recyclate into packaging products, the groups said “the development of this expertise here in Europe can support the stronger evolution of plastics packaging markets and indeed the acceptance of plastics packaging around the world.” However, they added that “for this, we need the polymer producers to invest in the production of their raw materials here in Europe.“ Without security of raw material supply, the European plastics packaging industry is not fully sustainable, the associations said.
In addition, the industry groups commended plastics packaging converters and their skill at managing the situation of interrupted supply and higher prices. “This has been a high wire balancing act amid conditions not witnessed for many years,” they said.
23.04.2015 Plasteurope.com [231022-0]
Published on 23.04.2015