PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2016

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Bunsenstr. 14 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Waldemar Schmitke Wolfgang von Schröter Anthony Withers WikiPETia.info Doris Fischer doris.fischer@hbmedia.net MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Johann Lange-Brock lange-brock@hbmedia.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 FRANCE, ITALY, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49 6201-878925 fax: +49 6201-878926 koepke@hbmedia.net LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Till Kretner reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr. 25 67354 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 trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 06/16 www.petpla.net Dear friends of PETplanet insider, The Editourmobil goes to China I have just stepped out of the aeroplane on the first part of the “Editourmobil goes to China” tour. First impressions are varied, with much that is different from anywhere else. For example, the Chinese have come out against lightweighting. Compared to 2014, bottles have become 10 to 20% heavier. In the last year, the market has not maintained its enviable growth rate. For years Western companies delivered machinery, equipment and moulds for the beverage industry to China, enjoying annual two-digit growth rates. Then suddenly it all grinds to a halt. The reason for this is complex. It is not simply a question of China’s moderate growth rate, the principal reason is probably down to the fact that the beverage industry is now serving all regions and therefore the market has become to a certain extent saturated. The key point now is that in the last year (2015) the usual increase did not occur. On the contrary, the CSD sector declined and in the water sector there was a shift from cheap to premium. The minor reason for this may have been the chilly weather in 2015 but more likely is the fact that bottlers have been installing their filling lines in the westernmost tip of China, meaning that there are now no more blank spaces on the map. Manufacturers of stretch blow moulding machines and filling lines have been particularly badly affected. Business is practically at rock bottom. The situation is slightly better for some preform and cap producers. The mould makers have come out best from the situation. Cut-throat competition amongst the bottlers calls for new designs, new caps. New moulds are therefore constantly required. Thus the Chinese beverage market can only grow organically as living standards improve. The potential is huge. Looking at the official economic forecasts, growth in the future is likely to be of the order of 5%, a third of the figure for previous years. Yours, Alexander Büchler