Uncertain expectations

According to AMI's recently published European Plastics Industry Report 2011, 2010 saw a recovery in demand for most thermoplastics, after two of the worst years the industry has seen since the oil shocks of the 1970s. After a drop in demand of over 15% over the period of the recession, volume demand showed a modest 4% recovery in 2010 bringing total demand to just over 37 million tonnes.
Per capita use of polymer in 2011 stands at just short of 74kg/head compared with over 82kg/head in 2007. As would be expected levels are generally higher in Western Europe than in Central Europe, although countries such as the Czech and Slovak Republics, Slovenia and Hungary are now higher than many West European countries highlighting the shift eastwards of polymer consumption. UK now has the lowest level of per capita demand for thermoplastics in Western Europe highlighting the decline in plastics processing that has occurred there over the past decade. The Benelux region continues to have the largest per capita consumption largely because of the presence of some major export-oriented processors in plastics film, fibre, compounds and masterbatch.