IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V.
IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. : No recovery in sight
The German plastic packaging industry is not expecting any positive impulses until the end of this year.
This is the clear result of the IK Economic Trend survey for the fourth quarter of 2013. Whilst nearly 50 per cent of IK members rated the general economic situation as ‘good’, only 25 per cent were also expecting higher turnovers for their own businesses. Moreover, the turnover index is declining compared to the previous quarter. From the point of view of IK, this unsatisfactory situation can be attributed, inter alia, to increased competition in Germany. More and more businesses from European crisis-ridden countries are trying to gain a foothold on the German market. Further more, the extremely high energy prices in Germany are becoming an ever increasing competitive disadvantage for the mostly medium-sized businesses within the plastic packaging sector. The outlook for export performance is not any better than during the previous quarter either. The positive economic data from some EU countries are so far not making any impact on the export-oriented German packaging manufacturers. According to the assessment of the respondents, the profit situation will stay sluggish at a low level. The IK basically attributes this to a cost explosion within the energy sector. Due to the EEG (Renewable Energy Law) allocation, the additional financial burdens for plastic packaging businesses this year are situated in the six and even seven figure region. Those high energy costs have also turned into a key brake on investment. But it is exactly the highly innovative industries, such as the plastic packaging sector, that are the most dependent on short investment cycles to be able to maintain competitiveness. The German IK Association of Plastic Packaging therefore still requires an immediate reorientation in respect of the EEG allocation. Here, both the German federal and the state governments are being challenged to find a viable solution. With over 300 members, the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. is the biggest trade association within the plastics packaging industry in Europe. IK represents the lion’s share of the German plastics packaging market, accounting for more than 4 million tons of plastic packagings and films. End of Media Release Issuer: IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. Key word(s): Associations 08.10.2013 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP’s Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de |
233759 08.10.2013 |