PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2012

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Häusserstr. 36 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 [email protected] EDITORIAL Doris Fischer: f [email protected] Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä [email protected] Martina Hischmann [email protected] Ursula Wachter [email protected] phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49(0)6201-878925 fax: +49(0)6201-878926 [email protected] LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Kay Krüger [email protected] PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr. 25 67454 Römerberg Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | w ww.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 07+08/12 www.petpla.net The international beverages world is turning its gaze on China – with very good reason. The beverages market is booming and the sector is buzzing with activity. To capture the excitement, the China Brew & Beverage Fair will be taking place in Beijing in September 2012. The fair is the fruits of a partnership between China United Equipment Group and Messe München (drinktec). To coincide with the opening of this event, in this issue no. 07/12, PETplanet Insider will be publishing a Regional Report on PET in China 2012. This will consist of a detailed update of the research carried out by us back in 2006 (and published in 2007) on the same topic. We begin this issue by taking a look at the new “Facts and Figures“ relat- ing to the drinks market and setting out the exciting story of PET in China from a modern day standpoint. In the following three issues we shall be reporting on visits and discussions with the central characters in the PET story – bottlers, converters and machine suppliers. A glance at developments over the past six years will demonstrate exactly why our Regional Report is so interesting: We will be considering the phe- nomenal growth in China’s GNP, looking at the volume of drinks produced and consumed, analysing the quantities of PET packaging material pro- cessed. We will compare figures from 2006 and 2012, revealing how com- panies are fighting for market share in this booming market. Never has the sector experienced such growth. Thank goodness for China, you might be thinking. Yet there are questions still to be answered, and our “Focus on China 2012” will not shy away from the issues.  Are PET machinery suppliers becoming too dependent on the Chinese market to make up for weaknesses in Europe and elsewhere?  Orders may indeed be large and spectacular but prices in China are 30% below European levels. Is this sustainable?  As GNP is constantly growing, per capita consumption of drinks in China (50l per head per annum) lags well behind Japan (175l), which nourishes the hope of a continuing boom in drinks consumption. But: Where will the resources come from to fuel future consumption, once Chinese living standards reach the Japanese level? What will be the environmental cost? Will Planet Earth be able to cope? Our PET industrialists are certainly not complacent about resolving the problems of resources and the environment like ecologically responsible production, energy-saving machines and lightweighting, but especially about PET bottle recycling and use of rPET for new bottles. Certainly a significant contribution by the industry on the topic of resources and environment, but perhaps just a minor step in the face of an even more gigantic challenge. The China Brew & Beverage Fair is certainly coming at a timely and joyful moment both for China itself and for the PET industry in general. The talk around the dinner table is likely to focus, as ever, on record sales, super profits, and eye-watering growth prospects but behind all the talk, the serious issues of environmental responsibility and sustainability could prove to be the elephant in the room. We wish the China Brew & Beverage Fair every success, and look forward to continuing the debate. Yours Wolfgang von Schroeter EDITORIAL dear readers, EDITORIAL