May 12- German producers of plastics materials suffered a 15% decline by volume in 2009, with total output for the sector falling to 17m tonnes from a 2008 figure of 20m, according to the latest data from industry trade association PlasticsEurope Deutschland.
Commenting on the decline at the association's annual results briefing in Frankfurt, PlasticsEurope Deutschland president Dr G nter Hilken said such a collapse of production has never existed before .
Hilken added, however, that results for German plastics producers for the first and second quarters of 2010 had been encouraging . He declined to provide a forecast for the full year, saying: We will have to wait to see how the following quarters develop.
Both export and domestic volumes were down by 16.7% to 10.2m tonnes and 14.2% to 7.2m tonnes respectively resulting in the surplus of exports over imports falling 21.2% by volume to 3.7m tonnes.
The EU-27 countries accounted for the major share of volumes in both the export (72%) and import (90%) sectors. The remainder of Europe accounting for 10% and 4% respectively. Asia was the second largest region for exports, accounting for a 12% export share and a 4% import share.
In value terms, the market picture last year was even worse. The Federal German statistics office recorded the plastics price index falling by 5.8% in 2009 and these lower prices resulted in turnover falling by 23.2% for 2009 to ?7.5bn.
Domestic sales fared slightly worse with a 25.2% drop to ?.8bn, while export sales fell by 21.7% to ?0.7bn.
In terms of the major end-use industries, the building industry production index in Germany went against the trend of the previous year and suffered a nominal decline of just 0.7% in 2009, attributed to the German government s infrastructure investment stimulation programme, while the index for the electrical industry fell by 21.7%. The production index for the automotive industry was down by 19.1%, however, despite support from last year s car scrapping scheme.
According to a survey by market research company Consultic, the building industry accounts for 25.2% of plastics consumption in Germany, the automotive industry for 9.2%, and electrical/electronics applications for 7.4%.
Packaging, according to Consultic, accounts for 32.4% of Germany s plastics consumption. The country s plastics packaging producers reported earlier this year a 10% decline in value and 8% decline in volume for 2009.
Looking to the future, Hilken said that German plastics producers had certainly faced numerous and difficult challenges during 2009, but that these had shown us where our strengths lie and how we can optimise these for the future .
Specifically, he suggested that the industry in both Germany and across Europe in general wants to continue to shape its future with other partners in the value creation chain by playing an important role in global competition in innovation.
Hilken said innovation would often fail were it not for plastics, which provide a means for sustainable solutions and long-term growth potential.
Citing an average annual growth rate in global plastics production of 9% over the period from 1950-2008 equivalent to volume growth from 1.5m to 245m tonnes Hilken said: We believe in our industry s growth path, but warn, however, against excessive optimism and hasty knee-jerk reactions.
Commenting on the decline at the association's annual results briefing in Frankfurt, PlasticsEurope Deutschland president Dr G nter Hilken said such a collapse of production has never existed before .
Hilken added, however, that results for German plastics producers for the first and second quarters of 2010 had been encouraging . He declined to provide a forecast for the full year, saying: We will have to wait to see how the following quarters develop.
Both export and domestic volumes were down by 16.7% to 10.2m tonnes and 14.2% to 7.2m tonnes respectively resulting in the surplus of exports over imports falling 21.2% by volume to 3.7m tonnes.
The EU-27 countries accounted for the major share of volumes in both the export (72%) and import (90%) sectors. The remainder of Europe accounting for 10% and 4% respectively. Asia was the second largest region for exports, accounting for a 12% export share and a 4% import share.
In value terms, the market picture last year was even worse. The Federal German statistics office recorded the plastics price index falling by 5.8% in 2009 and these lower prices resulted in turnover falling by 23.2% for 2009 to ?7.5bn.
Domestic sales fared slightly worse with a 25.2% drop to ?.8bn, while export sales fell by 21.7% to ?0.7bn.
In terms of the major end-use industries, the building industry production index in Germany went against the trend of the previous year and suffered a nominal decline of just 0.7% in 2009, attributed to the German government s infrastructure investment stimulation programme, while the index for the electrical industry fell by 21.7%. The production index for the automotive industry was down by 19.1%, however, despite support from last year s car scrapping scheme.
According to a survey by market research company Consultic, the building industry accounts for 25.2% of plastics consumption in Germany, the automotive industry for 9.2%, and electrical/electronics applications for 7.4%.
Packaging, according to Consultic, accounts for 32.4% of Germany s plastics consumption. The country s plastics packaging producers reported earlier this year a 10% decline in value and 8% decline in volume for 2009.
Looking to the future, Hilken said that German plastics producers had certainly faced numerous and difficult challenges during 2009, but that these had shown us where our strengths lie and how we can optimise these for the future .
Specifically, he suggested that the industry in both Germany and across Europe in general wants to continue to shape its future with other partners in the value creation chain by playing an important role in global competition in innovation.
Hilken said innovation would often fail were it not for plastics, which provide a means for sustainable solutions and long-term growth potential.
Citing an average annual growth rate in global plastics production of 9% over the period from 1950-2008 equivalent to volume growth from 1.5m to 245m tonnes Hilken said: We believe in our industry s growth path, but warn, however, against excessive optimism and hasty knee-jerk reactions.
