The German plastic packaging industry is entering 2014 feeling pretty good, at least compared to previous years.
According to the IK Economic Trend, about 41% of those surveyed expressing better turnover expectations has nearly doubled in comparison with 2013. Even in the case of exports, companies seem more confident than at the beginning of last year.
This positive assessment will still be affected by rising costs, according to the IK. Raw material became expensive in December 2013, something and additional price increases have already been announced by the raw material producers.
Against this background, the IK Economic Trend also shows adjustments in the prices of packaging for the first quarter of 2014. A further indication of this are record-level energy costs. German packaging manufacturers must pay 6.24 cents per kilowatt hour for the EEG (Renewable Energy Law) allocation with effect from 1.1.2014 - a new increase of almost 20%.
That is why the subject of energy efficiency in their firms is also important to 99% of the IK members surveyed. About 63% of the companies already work with an energy management system and of the remaining firms 83% plan to introduce such a system in the foreseeable future.
From the point of view of the IK, this exemplary commitment by the plastic packaging sector in the field of energy efficiency is not in the slightest near enough to offset the exorbitant costs of energy in Germany. That is why the new Federal Government is now being asked all the more to implement a market-orientated energy concept which will guarantee private end-users and the industry a secure and affordable energy supply.
