Plastic to grow 6% in 2010, pulled by small and medium companies
DCI
The plastic chain will grow between 5% and 6% in 2010. The estimate was made by the President of the Brazilian Plastics Industry Association (Abiplast), Merheg Cachum, in an interview to the DCI during the opening of the 2nd International Packing, Printing and Logistics Week, held in São Paulo (SP).
According to the President of the Abiplast, a possible slowdown in some sectors may be disturbing. "We are still in the deficit in the balance of trade of plastic, all companies are now focused on the domestic market, we have to export else there will be debt. That is why many Brazilian manufacturers are in the Plastics Tradeshow in Argentina this week, opening new businesses", explained Cachum, saying that the sector had a turnover of R$ 35 billion (US$ 17.8 billion) in 2009 and transformed 5.1 million tons.
The President of the entity also explained the difficulties of the chain with the latest adjustments in the price of the raw material. According to Cachum, the size of the adjustment will vary according to the size of the buyer's demand, "small, medium and big users of raw material have different scales on the composition of the price, but I can say the adjustment was R$ 200 (US$ 111)/ton from January to February and another R$ 200 (US$ 111)/ton from February to March. Regardless of that, the economy will take off. This is a political year [elections], which is always good for the economy of the country".
With the same confidence, the president of the Sector Chamber for Machines and Accessories for the Plastics industry of the Abimaq, Wilson Miguel Carnevalli, also bets on the growth. "The segment of machines for the Plastics Industry should grow between 10% and 20%. There is a quest for improvement in the productivity of the machines, we are watching a renewal of the equipment, because our clients, the processors of plastic, have closed even long term sales", he said, mentioning that the installed capacity of the sector grew 4.1% compared to last year's and has already got to 87.64%. According to the data of the Abimaq, the sales of machines for the plastics industry have monthly billings near R$ 100 million (US$ 56 million) (a projection of R$ 1.2 billion/US$ 667 million in the year compared to the R$ 734.71 million/US$ 373 million invoiced in 2009), with the basis of January at R$ 97.37 million (US$ 54.1 million), the exports at R$ 5.39 million (US$ 3 million) and the imports at R$ 34.57 million (US$ 19.2 million). The figures from February will be presented by the Abimaq today.
The President of the Sector Chamber also talked as an entrepreneur. "Carnevalli will have a very good year; we already have 80 orders to be delivered until the month of August and another 60 orders under credit analysis with the Finame (Special Agency for Industrial Financing). In fact, that is the main factor in our growth, the small- and medium-sized companies can buy with the low interest rates of the BNDES (National Development Bank)", he explained. According to the entrepreneur almost the entire production remains in the internal market. "In the past, I have already exported 50% of the production of machines; today, that does not exceed one machine a month. With the Real costing more, I only sold one machine to Pakistan and three or four orders to Latin America and the Caribbean".