Packaging Cluster has presented its strategic report on the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sector during 2020. A document that will be included in the Packaging Observatory, one of the great novelties that the organization will promote this year. It is a service aimed at associates and all professionals interested in keeping up to date with all the news that arises around a booming sector such as packaging.
The data presented reflects how the sector has firmly faced the coronavirus crisis in Catalonia. Packaging has remained stable, losing only 0,96% of turnover compared to the previous year, taking into account that the GDP fell by 11,5%. In 2020, the and of the container and the packing invoiced 9,138 millones de euros, in front of 9,469 millions of euros billed in 2019.
“We have known how to deal with a crisis that, unfortunately, has affected society in all its spheres. Although the figures reflect a slight decrease, they also show the solidity and stability of a sector that has established itself as essential for the development of a sustainable economy and society”, he underlines. Martina Fountain, president of the Packaging Cluster.
A consolidation that is also evident in the TAX ID No that represent the 723 companies dedicated to packaging that operate in Catalonia: A 4,08% in 2020. A sector that, in turn, generated 372 new jobs thanks to 90 of its main companies –they bring together 44% of the total turnover of the sector–, thus maintaining an economic performance almost identical to that of the previous year (-0,02%). Some companies that, in addition, in 2020 reduced their indebtedness (-1,29%) and hired more staff (+4,16%). Focusing on the cluster, the partners that make it up have shown good financial health, with a slight decrease of 0,94% in turnover and economic performance that has grown by 5,36% (comparing 2019 and 2020).
Increased costs of raw materials
The report also emphasizes one of the major factors that the sector has had to face as a result of Covid-19: the increase in the cost of raw materials. A problem that has worsened in 2021 and has particularly affected the price of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which has gone from being worth €900 per ton (fourth quarter of 2020) to €1.400 (second quarter of 2021).
In the case of kraft paper, the increase was 47,8% and for recycled paper, 45,4%. A circumstance that, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), has triggered the annual rate of the general Industrial Price Index (IPRI) to reach 33,1% in November 2021, one point above that registered in October and the highest since the beginning of the series, in January 1976.
