Unperturbed by increasing market consolidation, shipments of the European tube industry revealed a positive development in the first half of 2016. Total production of member companies of etma – european tube manufacturers association – totalled almost 5.3 billion tubes and was thus about two per cent above the previous year’s figures. Shipments by etma member companies account for some 70 per cent of total European tube production. This means tube production outpaced growth in GNP and industrial production in Europe, both of which were at roughly 1.5 per cent.
The most important market remains the cosmetics sector with a share of about 45 per cent. Pharmaceutical products and dental care follow at a distance with just over 20 per cent each. The food sector remains slightly under ten per cent and the remaining five per cent is used in industrial applications or the household sector.
“Although all in all we don’t have grounds for euphoria in the year in which the tube celebrates its 175th anniversary, the figures definitely still give reason enough for cautious optimism in the second half of the year despite the hard competitive environment in a relatively saturated European market,” sums up etma Secretary General Gregor Spengler. “And all the more so given the fact that etma member companies have reported a satisfactory order income in recent months.”
