True to the mantra that competition always makes business more lively, the order situation of European rigid PVC film manufacturers has visibly improved over the last weeks and months. This increase is probably linked to the situation of competitor material PET, Joachim Eckstein, head of the European Rigid PVC Films Association (Frankfurt / Germany; www.pvc-films.org), told Plasteurope.com, referring to ongoing industry discussions – see also Plasteurope.com of 04.04.2011. Numerous buyers are said to be switching from the high-priced and scarce PET back to the tried and tested PVC, which is more readily available and whose price development is much more predictable.

As for the EU’s current consumption levels of both materials, Eckstein said they were almost on a par, at about 400,000 t/y each. With 10 manufacturers based in the EU, PVC rigid film production is much more consolidated than the PET sector, characterised by two large players and many smaller companies. The latter clearly testifies to how much terrain PET was able to gain in the past few years (for an overview of the PET packaging market, see Plasteurope.com of 31.03.2011).