PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2018

EDITOUR PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 05/18 www.petpla.net 22 Tour Sponsors: The U.S. drinks industry in a tight spot Our current Editourmobil tour in the USA is taking place at a time of economic uncertainty. All previously made plans now have to be scrutinised by the U.S. drinks sector. The indus- try’s gures continue to reect outstanding growth but increasingly strident public attitudes on environmental issues over the years and the current trade war will bring about serious shifts in both the short and medium term. Current price rises affecting packaging and raw materials, together with a ruinous consumer price war, will lead to further consolidation in the drinks industry. A lot is said about Trump but what you can be sure of is his knack for ill- considered and ultimately damaging decisions. His deliberately conceived trade war launched in the last few weeks, principally directed at China, has given his “America First” slogan its very own dynamic which is already causing uncertainty on many levels, including in the U.S. drinks sector. Plastics Trump began his offensive by introducing punitive tariffs on metals in March. This is having a particularly signicant impact on the American plastics industry which already has several new major projects in the pipeline. Carl Dooley, President of the American Chemical Council (ACC), says that arrangements for new pro- duction facilities have been planned on a costed basis in terms of the free movement of goods. Strict tariffs on metals have resulted in revised eco- nomic appraisals which have led to a signicant slowdown in investment. In terms of products, the chemical industry has also been affected, with plastics included on a second list of Chinese tariffs introduced in April. Even though PET is not on the list, distortions in the U.S. plastics indus- try caused by Trump will also have repercussions for the drinks industry in the form of higher prices for materi- als in the near future. Colleagues in the can industry will certainly be badly affected with the price of material for drink cans having skyrocketed by 25% in March. The impacts on the plastics industry will be a topic for discussion at the forthcoming NPE in Orlando. With Editourmobil and Bottlezone, we are right in the thick of things.