German Polyurethane Industry Will Maintain Strong In 2008

German Pu will maintain a good momentum of development and will become increasingly internationalized.

However, the grim situation of future development can not be ignored: the cost of raw materials and the rise of energy consumption, as well as the stricter control of some legislative bodies on the industry.

FSK manager Hans-W. Schloz pointed out that the cost of raw materials is a permanent topic of concern for polyurethane industry all over the world.

Crude oil prices continue to rise, while the cost of polyurethane raw materials has risen by 45% over the past 4-5 years, and the proportion of total production costs has risen from 35% to 45%.

However, the price of polyurethane products and semi-finished products has not risen year by year, because once the price increases, downstream customers are not necessarily buying, especially in the field of construction will be strongly resisted.

Nevertheless, the customer is not satisfied with the price, and constantly asks for price cuts.

It is reported that in 2007, the German polyurethane industry sales reached 5 billion euros, employing more than 45000 people, probably more than 1000 manufacturers, but 30% of the manufacturers consumed 70% of raw materials, that is to say, most of them were small businesses.

In the downstream application area, the largest share of building and insulation fields is about 29%, or 267 thousand tons, and the trend of the future is rising, mainly due to the stimulation of energy saving legislation on the demand of thermal insulation materials; second of the soft foams in furniture mattresses, 23% or 212 thousand tons, will have a downward trend in the future; 17% in the pportation field, 14% in the field of science and technology, and there will be an upward trend in the future; 9% or about 82 thousand tons in the coatings and packaging fields are also on the rise.

On the other hand, the application of polyurethane in other fields in Germany has been gradually reduced.

For example, because of fierce competition from imported products, the application of shoe materials has almost disappeared.

The production of refrigerators and automobiles is clearly shifting from Germany to Western Europe.