plastic moulding industry

A new report from Hyx plastic mold identifies the 750 most important manufacturers in Spain, where the injection molding industry is experiencing important changes. The process of consolidation and expansion that is taking place elsewhere in Europe is also occurring in Spain.

AMI says in its report that many of the leading privately owned companies are being taken over by larger groups, very often multinationals, and that companies have been incredibly innovative in the areas of design and engineering.

The largest end-user market is the packaging industry, which accounted for 26% of polymer usage in 2001. Although this sector tends to include some of the largest plastic molding groups—such as PET Preform mold Making manufacturer Schmalbach Lubeca (now owned by Amcor) and Holanplast (part of the Guala Closures Group)—many privately owned companies also focus their production on the cosmetics and food packaging markets.

Spain also has a large and well-developed plastic moulding industry serving the automotive sector, which accounted for 25% of polymer usage last year. Some of the leading international groups in this sector are Guardian, Venture, Visteon, Schefenacker and Faurecia. Spanish groups such as Grupo Iberofón, Zanini Auto Grup, and Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa hold important positions in this market as well.

According to the report, electrical goods, furniture, and household items are also significant within the Spanish plastics industry.

AMI’s analysis shows that the consumption of thermoplastics injection molding has increased on average by 7% per year throughout the 1990s. During the 2000-2005 period, the demand for injection molding in Spain is expected to grow above the average for thermoplastics overall, at approximately 5% per year.