Different experts have participated in the Intracluster dialogue on market evolution and availability of raw materials, organized by the Packing and Packaging Innovation Cluster.
The current situation of uncertainty derived from the post-pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, among others, have led to a slowdown in the global production of containers and packaging that has led to new changes in the raw materials market. In recent years, the packaging sector has experienced instability in the supply and demand of raw materials. "We are facing a complex and unexpected scenario for everyone, because in a matter of three years we have seen how it has gone from one extreme to another, changing things unexpectedly", he highlighted. Jaime Garcia, managing director of Guzman Polymers.
He has also assured that another effect that is going to have an impact is how the economy is going to go in China, since they continue to have problems with COVID and therefore cannot produce the same. In this line, he has declared: “Europe can be a more attractive market and some opportunities can arrive”.
This situation has caused professionals in the packaging sector to find themselves at a crucial moment in which they fear for the availability of raw materials. On the one hand, European manufacturers are under pressure from very high industrialization costs due to energy costs. While, on the other hand, the market calls for changes in materials, as warned louis mora, you go out director in Mondi Packaging United Kingdom, and “this causes companies to want to change materials, but not everything is substitutable or favorable for the market”, which could also cause supply problems in some materials.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, the supply of virgin raw material fell and recycled material took its place, thus increasing its demand and value in the market. But at present, the decrease in demand and the increase in energy costs have endangered the industry and with it compliance with the new European regulations. "With all this economic situation we are seeing how the cost of waste for recycling has grown five times more than the amount of the sale of products, which is a problem for recycling companies," he stressed. Oscar Hernandez, general director of ANARPLA, National Association of Plastics Recyclers.
To conclude, Hernández stressed that there are other sectors such as the automobile, agricultural or construction sectors that have a greater capacity to incorporate recycled material into their production than the packaging sector, since "Spain is one of the five European countries with the highest recycling capacity.
