News

Plastics packaging converters will be hit by higher raw material prices in the next few months, a European trade body has predicted.

European Plastics Converters (EuPC) said high oil prices were "threatening the recovery of the industry", which has also been hit by a shortage of raw materials.

EuPC warned that the "dominant position" of many multinational packaging buyers meant converters would not be able to recover increases in their raw materials costs.

It added  that the growth of the Indian and Chinese plastics industries had led to higher demand, and that it was a "widely accepted fact of life" that European converters often did not receive the full quantity of raw materials they ordered.

However, the organisation said converters had responded "impressively" to increases in raw material prices by making energy savings and productivity improvements.

Plastics packaging converters have been warning for months of the impact of high raw materials costs. RPC Group chief executive Ron Marsh told Packaging News last month that European converters faced higher raw material costs than their North American and Asian counterparts.