Raw materials for plastic packaging are becoming scarce

– Supply shortages especially for PP, HDPE and LDPE –

Many manufacturers of plastic packaging in Germany are currently having considerable problems purchasing sufficient raw materials on the market. As a recent survey by the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. shows, there are currently considerable bottlenecks, especially for PP, HDPE and LDPE plastics.

The shortage in recent weeks comes as a surprise: in autumn 2020, 80 percent of IK member companies had expected stable supplies. The background to the tense supply situation is the lack of imports from the USA and Saudi Arabia, which are currently being redirected mainly to China. The situation is aggravated by an increased demand for packaging, especially in the food sector due to the Corona lockdown, but also in the automotive, furniture and construction industries. The difficult supply situation affects both medium-sized and large companies and especially manufacturers of film packaging, plastic bottles and packaging cups.

“The shortages of raw materials are accompanied by sometimes exorbitant price increases,” says IK General Director Dr Martin Engelmann, expressing his concern about this development “Shortterm shortages and considerable price jumps for raw materials not only endanger the supply of the population with safely packaged food. Plastic packaging is of systematic relevance in many value chains.”

The sharply increased prices for raw materials are a burden on companies at a time when the new CO2 tax is also leading to higher costs and there is currently no relief in sight on the raw materials market. “Especially in the current crisis, manufacturers and converters must work together to ensure that the tensions we experienced in 2015, the keyword here is force majeure, are not repeated. Our industry should stick together,” Engelmann explains.