In the first half year of 2009 some 32% of German plastic packaging companies had to introduce reduced working hours. According to IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V, (the German Association for Plastic Packaging and Films) this underlines how hard the plastic packaging industry has been hit by the economic crisis. According to a survey, 26% of companies are planning to maintain reduced working hours in the third quarter of 2009.

However, it is considered that reduced working hours alone will not overcome the problems facing the industry, as reflected by the fact that 26% of companies had to lay off part of their workforce due to market conditions. For the third quarter 15% of companies are still planning layoffs. These figures underline the reality that the economic situation will remain difficult within the next three months.

Overall, the IK trend report for the third quarter of 2009 gives a slightly better prognosis in comparison to the previous quarter. However, plastic packaging companies will have to deal with higher raw material prices, which will inadvertedly cause further increases in cost.

The association therefore thinks that additional structural adaptations within the industry will be necessary in order to secure the future of a great number

Источник: Unipack.Ru