The latest analysis from German group Ceresana Research shows the Eurozone debt crisis is affecting the mood of plastics companies in western Europe, but it has only had a small impact on the worldwide plastics industry’s confidence levels.
The group said: “The chemical and plastic industries are still in a positive mood: More than one third of the companies surveyed [around the world] by Ceresana Research evaluate their current business situation as good. Only just less than 14% rate their business situation as poor. Almost 83% of the survey participants expect their market share to increase over the next 3 years.”
A survey conducted for its latest Ceresana Industry Monitor (CIM) was answered by plastics company decision-makers in 46 countries. Its CIM Barometer index showed a slight decline compared to its autumn survey, but the current situation score of 10.1 points was still positive (the scale is from -50 to +50). The expectations of companies for future business had a slightly higher score of 11.6.
However, for western Europe companies’ expectations, the CIM Barometer score of 1.1 showed the level of uncertainty caused by the Eurozone crisis. In contrast, expectations in Asia-Pacific scored 25.7.