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Plastics Processing Market Report 2003
Key Note Publications Ltd, July 2003
The plastics processing industry is prominent in every aspect of modern life. As new polymers and composite materials are introduced by the chemical industry, so the industry is constantly refining and adding products to those that have been made over many decades. In its early years, the plastics industry greatly benefited from the substitution of plastic for other materials including various metals, wood, paper, glass, cardboard and natural fibres, etc. However, as a mature industry, the possibilities for substitution are limited, leading to greater dependence on economic growth and the expansion of demand in plastic's existing markets. The industry is also vulnerable to volatility in the global price of oil and gas feedstocks, used by the chemical industry to produce its raw and semi-finished materials.
Total apparent UK demand peaked in 2000 and then dropped to an estimated £10.41bn in 2002. This downward trend is expected to continue until there is significant global economic recovery which will stimulate domestic and world demand. The leading markets for plastics are in packaging, building and construction and the automotive/transport industries, all of which have generally been buoyant. However, a number of other industries which use some form of plastic, e.g. the textile, clothing, electrical, electronic, mechanical engineering and agricultural industries, have experienced a profound downturn in demand, as they struggle to adjust to changes in the market for their products and against a rising tide of imports.
Overseas competition from the advanced developing countries is having an impact on domestic demand, as cheap imports of relatively low added-value products are causing some parts of the UK's plastics industry to restructure. A number of UK companies have relocated their manufacturing facilities to these low-cost countries and have themselves become importers. The rising cost of the polymers used by the UK's plastics processing industry has made many of its customers resist the inevitable price increases that follow and led them to seek alternative sources of supply, wherever possible. Plastic processors are also seeking cheaper material suppliers and this downward spiral has led to the closure or suspension of production at several bulk chemical plants in the UK.
We expect that demand will eventually recover over the next 5 years to reach £10.97bn in 2007, but the outlook for the immediate future is uncertain. Ultimately, the technical advances which introduce new capabilities to plastic materials and the resulting specialised plastics, new polymer alloys and composites, should open up new applications and opportunities for plastic which could be sufficient to offset the rise in imports of less specialised plastic products. However, new production techniques and materials demand investment in machinery and operator training, which will inevitably limit the number of plastic processors able to make the necessary investment, forcing those which cannot out of business.
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