PlasticsEurope recently launched the 2020 edition of its well-known annual report “Plastics: the Facts”. It gives a precise overview on the 2019 plastic materials production and demand updated data and extended 2018 waste management figures.
Important plastic markets
This report shows that at a global level, the plastic materials production continued to increase in 2019, although at a slower pace than in the previous years. China reaffirms its leading position and is close to represent one third of the world’s plastics production.
With regards to Europe, figures show a decline of the production and demand of plastic materials in 2019 compared to 2018 levels. This is mainly due to a decrease in the demand coming from consumer industries such as automotive, packaging and electrical and electronic.
Despite the production and demand slowdown, the European plastics industry still achieved a positive trade balance of more than 13 billion euros in 2019.
Outlook 2021
Regarding the 2020 outlook, a year deeply marked by the COVID-19 crisis, PlasticsEurope noticed that after a sharp drop in the first half of the year, the production of plastic materials has started to recover in the second half of the year. The plastics manufacturers expect the recovery to continue in the last quarter of 2020 and during 2021, while pre-crisis levels of production will probably not be reached before 2022.
For more details on the key figures of the European plastic industry and its societal and economic contribution, check out “Plastics: the Facts 2020”