AMI Africa Polymer Report 2019: High demand for preforms
A new report from AMI Consulting published in July 2019 has unveiled the scale and growth prospects of African polymer demand. The report makes clear that Africa represents one of the least developed but highest potential markets for polymers in the world today.
Fundamental megatrends such as population growth, a burgeoning middle class thanks to income per capita growth and rising urbanisation rates give rise to a strong growth outlook for the region. In addition, government policies such as greater infrastructure investment, economic diversification strategies and the prospect of greater FDI driven in part by the development of special economic zones offer a favourable backdrop. The relative immaturity of the market and the amount of room to grow offers a vast opportunity for those willing to take the risk. Indeed, only a few countries in Africa have large plastic processing sectors and many import substantial volumes of plastic goods.
A comprehensive investigation of market segmentation has revealed that injection moulding is the processing technique which accounts for the greatest volume of African polymer demand, with the main application being preforms sold to converters to make plastic bottles. Indeed, demand for bottled mineral water and soft drinks has increased exponentially due to the ban of thin single-use plastic in many countries and the recyclability of PET bottles. Plastic water pouches have proven to be a litter and pollution problem that many governments have acted strongly against by imposing single-use plastic bans. As a result, PET is the polymer seeing the fastest growth in demand in most countries.
Specifically, the report examines the consumption of 14 polymers by 10 processing techniques in 20 countries. Data is provided for 2017 and 2018, with forecasts for 2019 and 2023. In addition, the division of end-use applications for each polymer, country and processing technique is provided for 2018. The report also reveals the locations of all polymer producers in Africa and capacity expectations to 2023.In summary, the third edition of AMI Consulting’s Polymer Demand in Africa report provides a detailed statistical analysis and breakdown of the market and its future prospects. It is claimed to be essential for anybody aiming to understand the fundamental structure and outlook of the African plastics market.
