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packaging journal TV Talk: How is the packaging industry looking at the second half of the year?

In packaging journal TV Talk, we talk to the important people in the industry. Today, Kim Cheng, Managing Director of the German Packaging Institute dvi, ventures a look into the second half of 2021 - a period in which the industry could actually emerge stronger from the tough months of the pandemic. If it weren't for material shortages, supply bottlenecks and more expensive raw materials.

Kim Cheng
Managing Director of the German Packaging Institute dvi

In packaging journal TV Talk, we talk to the important people in the industry. Today, Kim Cheng, Managing Director of the German Packaging Institute dvi, ventures a look into the second half of 2021 - a period in which the industry could actually emerge stronger from the tough months of the pandemic. If it weren't for material shortages, supply bottlenecks and more expensive raw materials.
Kim Cheng, Managing Director of the dvi (Image: dvi)
Kim Cheng, Managing Director of the dvi (Image: dvi)

Ms Cheng, the news over the past few months has not exactly been encouraging for the industry. What feedback are you getting?

Our members unanimously report that we are experiencing a shortage of raw materials, i.e. a shortage of materials. In our view, this applies to all packaging materials. It doesn't just relate to plastic. The cost of raw materials and transport is rising. This is putting a considerable strain on the supply chain. Our members tell us that there are force majeure reports from suppliers.

That significantly higher purchase prices are demanded for deliveries and smaller quantities are delivered. Quantities are divided up and then distributed over the month. So that's a major problem in the industry right now. There is no possibility of material substitution. Because it is a problem that affects all packaging materials and there are, of course, increased demands on the packaging material. Medium-sized processors in particular are facing a major problem here.

You can't just breathe that away, said the managing director of the Industrie Vereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen, and he's probably right. It's mainly financial challenges that the industry is facing now, isn't it?

Yes, I think the big problem is that it is not possible to predict with any validity whether raw material prices will change again and how they will change. And this is particularly difficult for small and medium-sized companies.

This shortage comes at a time when the packaging industry has found new courage. Partly because it was finally recognised as being systemically relevant during the pandemic. Has this given it new self-confidence?

So I think that the declaration of systemic relevance was an important signal at the right time for the packaging industry. I think we all know what a great job the employees have done. Not just during the pandemic. The companies have also made a huge contribution to ensuring security of supply through hygiene, concepts and the distribution of shift work. It also has to be said that, thanks to the packaging, the supply chain has of course also held up at European level.

And that is precisely my wish, that the industry will emerge from this pandemic, which will hopefully soon be over, with greater self-confidence. And, of course, I also hope that this pandemic will perhaps help people to look at packaging from a different angle. Not as waste, but as a secondary raw material, and to recognise the work that the industry does every day.

The whole interview in the packaging journal TV Talk

These would be good reasons to go into the summer stronger and more confident, especially in the second half of the year, if it weren't for the problems we have talked about. What is your assessment? How is the packaging industry heading into the second half of the year?

So overall, our industry is well positioned and can actually always look to the future with confidence. What nobody can really predict is how commodity prices will develop. And nobody knows at the moment whether this pandemic will really be over by the autumn. So we are confident. We are confident about the future. But everything else remains to be seen.

And how is the German Packaging Institute dvi supporting us through the second half of the year?

We have actually already positioned ourselves well in terms of digital offerings in the past year. We have converted all of our events. This has been well received by our members. The training courses offered by our Academy, the Dresden Packaging Conference, which takes place in December, and the German Packaging Award, which will be presented for the 44th time in autumn, will be held digitally. Since the „Packaging Day“ in June, we have had an online exhibition on our website about modern packaging solutions and have organised a panel with the AGVU with Parliamentary State Secretary Florian Pronold. So there is a lot going on.

Published in packaging journal 4-5/2021

Also in this issue: 

Market situation: bottlenecks in the supply chain

Special Pharma and Cosmetics

Packaging materials: Solutions for cardboard packaging and folding cartons

Display

Retail refill stations

and much more

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