More details on the new “Polymers for Europe Alliance”, set up by European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsconverters.eu) at its annual meeting in late May (see Plasteurope.com of 29.05.2015), have been made available. The alliance was set up in response to the recent spate of force majeure announcements, numbering more than 40 in a period of just four months. The resulting material shortage has led to a stoppage of several production lines across Europe, threatening the existence of numerous converters and raising doubt about the legality of these FMs.

Echoing the statements he made in an exclusive comment published by Plasteurope.com (see Plasteurope.com of 12.06.2015), EuPC president Michael Kundel said, “It seems that after months of low oil prices the petrochemical industry appears to be clawing back margins in the polymer value chain by stopping some crackers in Europe one after the other.” Following rising pressure from trade groups, end users, OEMs and brand owners, the European authorities are now looking more closely at the FMs, he added. Hinting at the suspected reason behind the virtual explosion in FMs, the press release announcing the alliance’s set up is titled “From ‘Act of God’ to ‘Act of shareholder’’.

The authorities' inquiry will be assisted by the newly established Polymers for Europe Alliance, which – together with the aid of PIE’s Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net) – will provide detailed information on the current polymer market and also assist raw material users through its network spanning numerous national plastics associations. Another field in which the alliance – whose website is published on the Polymer Comply Europe domain (http://www.polymercomplyeurope.eu/what-we-offer/polymers-europe-alliance) – is active is in assisting companies in requesting a suspension of certain EU import duties to relieve polymer shortages (see also Plasteurope.com of 01.04.2015). Beyond that, it will also help companies search for material from outside of Europe, and discuss the possibility of setting up group purchasing platforms.

Together with industry and independent experts, the alliance – headed by Ron Marsh – will also initiate a study on Europe’s ageing polymer sites that is aimed at providing more transparency on the future development of polymer production on the continent. Initial research has already shown that some sites had more than 11 FM declarations within only two years.

Open to all companies and associations in Europe that need more information on the polymer supply chain and its future in 5-10 years, the alliance will also discuss potential legal assistance for companies that have no choice but to seek legal action against their polymer suppliers due to what EuPC called “erroneous force majeure declarations.” Alliance head Marsh added that thanks to its establishment, “All plastics converters in Europe will now have the possibility to rate their polymer suppliers on specific customers’ criteria and some basic commercial and ethical rules will hopefully be reinstated.”