The Plastics Industry: A Comparative Study of Research and Innovation

Abstract

Plastics are already one of the world's main groups of industrial materials; in volume terms, world plastics consumption is now greater than that of all non-ferrous metals combined. The main point that emerges from international comparisons is West Germany's predominance in production and exports (and also in exports of plastics machinery). German production of plastic materials in 1961 was 19 kilograms per head, compared to 17½ in the United States and 12 in Britain. This is not due to lower costs. In material costs, Germany has been, if anything, at a disadvantage : she had only a small petro-chemicals industry in the early post-war years, and she has very little natural gas. In labour costs (which in any case are not very important in this industry) and in plant costs, again there is no evidence of any marked German advantage over her competitors. In general her quoted prices were not below those of other countries.