EuPC (European Plastics Converters) urged plastics converters to challenge their raw material suppliers in court if they are faced with suspicious declarations of Force Majeure, that - according to the association managing director Alexandre Dangis - have become too frequent.
The European association acknowledges that unusual factors have affected raw material supply in the last two years, such as the reduced demand of plastic materials and the fast recovery occurred in the latest 9 months. This has caused hardship for many European plastics processors since they have found it difficult to fulfill their own supply contracts with customers whilst not having the possibility of any legal recourse to their own suppliers.
Dangis, quoting a recent KPMG study (entitled "The Future of European Chemicals Industry") declares that within 2015 the cracking capacity should decrease by 26%, underlining a certain "irony" that just as society begins to appreciate the positive role of plastics, raw material possible unavailability is set to undermine the progress of the processing industry.