• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Amit Mitra

plastic products exported from India range from polyester film, plastic woven sacks, laminates and writing instruments to floor coverings, cine X-ray positive/negative film, hard lenses and fishing net.

MUMBAI, March 14

FACED with sluggish trends in the domestic market, the plastic processing industry is increasingly focussing on the export market.

Industry sources said more than 30,000 polymer processors and 2,000 exporters had been actively exploring new avenues in the global market in the last few years.

According to them, exports of plastic products, from India have increased from $802 million last fiscal to $940 million in the current fiscal. Given the current trends, the exports are expected to bloat up to $1,104 million by 2003-04, $1,497 million by 2005-06 and $1,721 million by 2006-07.

Plastic moulded/extruded goods and plastic raw materials dominate the export basket of the Rs 25,000-crore Indian plastic industries, the top five trading partners being the UAE, the US, China, the UK and Turkey.

The plastic products exported from India range from polyester film, plastic woven sacks, laminates and writing instruments to floor coverings, cine X-ray positive/negative film, hard resilene lenses and fishing net.

A significant trend has been the growth of the UAE market, which replaced the US market in terms of consumption of Indian plastic products in the last fiscal. The UAE market grew from $61.29 million in 1999-2000 to $188 million in 2000-01 and $223 million last fiscal, representing 18.12 per cent growth.

On the other hand, exports to the US slumped from $223 million to $131 million in 2001-02, registering a fall of over 41 per cent. More or less, similar trends have continued this fiscal, market reports indicate.

The market trends have prompted the domestic industry to take an initiative to study the reasons for the fall in the US market. The plastics exporters apex body, the Plastics Export Promotion Council (Plexconcil), had recently undertaken a survey through the international management-consulting firm, Frost and Sullivan.

According to the preliminary findings of the survey, the chief reasons for the poor offtake of Indian plastic products in the US include lack of adequate market awareness, the perception that Indian plastic items are "very weak'', brand consciousness in the US market and China becoming an increasingly preferred source for plastic products.

This highlights the need for the Indian plastic industry to launch a rigorous marketing effort in the US, which should be backed by investments in research and development activities so that a set of exclusive products is designed for the US market.

Another suggestion for making Indian plastic products more competitive in the export market is to permit the industry to import plastic scrap, which has been banned.

"India imports nearly seven to eight per cent of its virgin polymer requirement from the international market, which is three times more expensive than plastic scrap. This will not only help reduce the quantum of imports of virgin polymers, but will also enable us to be competitive in the international market. The only way to compete in the existing scenario is on the strength of pricing,'' says Mr Mohan K. Jain, President of the All-India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA).

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Safeguard probe on Bisphenol imports

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line