The Italian economy has been growing at a slower pace that the European Union over recent years. However, plastics consumption within Italy has grown at a rate roughly three times that of GNP growth and in recent years at an average annual rate of around 5.

Italy is a net importer of plastics as raw materials, but has capitalised on strong export markets for its plastics products. The largest share of these Italian exports originates in certain specialised industrial districts, some of which have major relevance in the global trade equal to or exceeding that of entire major countries. The Emilia district and the Montebelluna district are examples of Italys export strength, contributing significantly to the world exports of packaging manufacturing equipment and ski boots respectively.

This Rapra industry analysis report highlights the trends in the Italian plastics industry over the period 1993-1997. The average size of Italian plastics processing companies increased over the period considered following a process of concentration in the industry structure. As elsewhere in Europe companies have grown through mergers and acquisitions, and non-competitive small activities have been shut down.

In terms of end-sector production, Italy has developed a strong market position in several fields utilizing plastics:

Large appliances - sales of appliances manufactured in Italy exceed 40 of total Western European demand, and Italian production accounts for around 50 of total European production.Footwear - Italy is Europes largest producer of footwear, exporting 80 of production.

Automotive - production of Italian cars increased by 18 in 1997 following the introduction of Government scrapping incentives.The report starts with an overview of the Italian economy to provide a back-drop for the performance of plastics and plastics products.

Supply and demand trends for commodity and engineering thermoplastics and selected thermoset materials are discussed, and indications of current and future market trends for both material and manufactured product provided.

This report offers an in-depth look at the Italian plastics industry:

• end-use sector performance
• material supply and demand
• dominant and emerging applications
• key company profiles

  About the authors

  Dr. Diana Castiglione graduated in Industrial Chemistry from Milan University in 1968. From 1970-1977, she was responsible for global petrochemical and refinery studies with a major consulting company, and, from 1978-1979, for global plastic production and processing studies. In 1979 she became a co-founder of Plastic Consult, a consulting company specialising in techno-economic studies for plastic manufactured goods. She has conducted a number of studies on the impact of technological innovation on plastic product competitiveness, and has acquired an in-depth knowledge of polymer production and conversion processes, of the market potential for new products, and of plastics recycling.

  Bruno Arcelli is a co-founder and the CEO of Plastic Consult. He graduated in Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 1963. He co-ordinated European and global studies on plastics, fibres and chemical products for a major consulting company from 1963-1979. In recent years, he has completed many studies on packaging, including an exhaustive review of the entire Italian packaging industry (plastic and non-plastic). He has kept track of the Italian plastics industry since 1963. He is a member of the CMEC (Chemical Marketing and Economics) division of the American Chemical Society.