PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2015

EDITOUR REPORT 11 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 07+08/15 www.petpla.net In terms of its area, about 505,370km 2 , Spain is the third largest country in Europe, but fifth largest by popu- lation around 46,6 million. The capital city of Madrid is centrally located on the high plateau of Castile, 667m above sea level. Madrid is not only the largest city in Spain but also the largest city in southern Europe, followed by Barcelona in the north-east with a total metropolitan area comprising approximately 3,2 million inhabitants. The port of Barcelona, capital of Catalonia, is the economic hub of Spain and at the same time the region with the high- est demographic rate of approximately 700 inhabitants per m 2 , the average for Spain is something like approximately 92km 2 . Other towns listed according to size are Valencia, Seville and Bilbao with a metropolitan area of over a million inhabitants. Current economic and financial situation The economy is currently in a state of recession and the country can only look forward to a slow recovery. One of the effects is the high unemployment rate of almost 25%. Especially affected are young people in the 16 – 24 age groups. Here the unemployment rate exceeds 50%. This puts Spain in the unenviable position of leader as far as Europe is concerned. Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel. According to the Foreign Office (October 2014) the Spanish economy emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2013 with +0,1% growth after nine quarters in decline; since then growth has shown positive develop- ment, lying at around 0,6% in the second quarter of 2014. As regards 2013 as a whole, Spain registered a further fall in gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,2%. GDP in 2013 was around €1,049,2bn.The government is anticipating growth of 1,3% in 2014. The unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2014 was 24,47% (5,62 million unemployed). As regards 2014 overall, the government is expecting unemployment to fall to 24,8%. In 2013 Spain registered a current account surplus of 0,69% of GDP (2012: -1,2%) for the first time. In the first six months of 2014, however, the balance on current account has once again deteriorated. The packaging industry in Spain Home and body care - private label bolsters packaging sector Over the review period, the private label sector con- tinued to gain ground in 2013. The growing importance of price as a determinative variable when making the pur- chasing decision and the strong expansion plans of the leading retailer Mercadona supported the performance of private label in Spain. The penetration of private label hence reached levels unthinkable at the beginning of the review period. As a consequence, the packaging types that leading private label producers choose are shaping the performance of packaging types in fast moving consumer goods. This is, for example, the case of PET, sales of which benefited from the latest decisions taken by Carre- four and Mercadona to package a number of their beauty and personal care ranges in PET. Macro-economic data (source: Germany Trade & Invest, as of May 2014) Area 505.370km² Inhabitants 46.6 million Population density 92.2 inhabitants/km 2 * (2013) Population growth 0,8%* (2014) Age structure (2014) 0-14 years: 15.4%; 15-24 years: 9.6%; 25-54 years: 45.9%; 55-64 years: 11.4%; 65 years and over: 17.6%* Raw materials Agriculture Grain, vegetables, olives, grapes, sugar beet, citrus fruits, beef, pork, poultry, milk products, fish Mineral Coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mer- cury, pyrite, magnesite, fluorite, gypsum, kaolin, potassium chlo- ride, arable land Economic Situation Gross Domestic Product (GDP, nom. ) Billion € 2013: 1,049.2 2014: 1,059.0* 2015: 1,088.5* Billion US$ 2013: 1,393.3 2014: 1,426.5* 2015: 1,466.2* GDP per inhabitant (nominal) € 2011: 22,700 2012: 22,300 2013: 22,300 GDP per head Purchasing Power Parities (PPS) € 2011: 24,300 2012: 24,400 2013: 24,500 GDP trend (%) 2013 Industry 159% Services 657% Construction 7.2% Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 2.4% Miscellaneous 8.8% Unemployment rate 2013: 26.1 2014: 24.8* 2015: 23.5* *) Estimate / forecast / (source: Trade & Invest, November 2014)