The development of the global plastics processing industry presents the following major trends

The development of the global plastics processing industry shows the following major trends. The share of emerging markets is increasing. In the past decade, the global plastics processing industry has been characterized by changes in the production pattern. Emerging markets in Asia, especially China, have significantly increased their share of global sales. A very important reason is the rapid expansion of production capacity in emerging Asian markets, while the EU economy is relatively inactive during the same period. Unlike the EU, the US, Japan and Germany have largely maintained their share of global competition. Due to the strong export orientation of the German plastics processing industry, German plastics processors are largely unaffected by other European countries. Global economic growth and new application areas drive growth in plastic applications Experts expect the market demand for plastic products to continue to grow in the coming years. On the one hand, the plastics processing industry has benefited from economic growth. On the other hand, plastics are also actively expanding into new fields of application, and the development of composite materials is also on the agenda. Although China's economic growth rate has slowed down, experts expect the Asian plastics processing industry to maintain an average annual growth rate of 10% in the next 10 years, which is 2% higher than the expected growth rate of the plastics processing industry in Europe and the Americas-3 %. In Germany, the market demand for plastic products is closely related to the development of several key industries, such as the automotive, food industry, construction industry, mechanical engineering and electronics industry, in terms of direct exports to other European countries, especially to non-EU regions. For export, technical plastic products are used as core components in many export product components such as machinery and transport equipment, as are packaging products and plastic packaging. Competition between German plastic product manufacturers and other plastic product manufacturers outside Europe, especially from Asia, has been significantly fierce in recent years. The capacity expansion of the plastics processing industry is mainly in Asia In terms of the number of processed plastics, China has replaced the EU as the world's most important producer of plastics processed. Compared to many countries in the European Union, China is far from being affected by the global economic and financial crisis. Gradual industrialization, strong growth in the construction sector, and private consumption have created a huge growth in China's plastics processing industry. In the next few years, the global demand for plastic products will continue to grow. Significant plastics processing capacity expansion will occur in Asia over the next few years, followed by South America, with some growth expected in Europe and Japan due to existing structural issues. The result is that the EU and Japan are losing their share of global production, while other regions, especially emerging Asian markets, will benefit from higher economic growth. This development is reinforced by the trend towards production close to the customer. In addition, additional plastic processing capacity will also occur in regions that favor access to raw materials, such as the Gulf region. Which technology trends are changing plastics technology? A number of technology trends determine the development of the plastics industry, the most important of which are as follows: Lightweight: Lightweight components and material-saving products made of plastics and composites have ushered in a rise in demand, among them, used in automobiles and aircraft The plastic parts reduce the impact on the environment. Resource Efficiency: In many countries, the sustainable development of society is driving the development of a circular economy that requires plastic processors to design their products with the circular economy in mind. Additive Manufacturing: Additive manufacturing (3D printing) complements traditional plastics processing technologies in many fields, enabling flexible production in prototyping, mass production, spare parts supply, and even small batch manufacturing. Industrial digitalization: Digitalization continues to deepen in the development of the modern plastics processing industry. With digital technology, the plastics processing process becomes more transparent and flexible, and the potential of production automation is further magnified.