Plastic industry grows fast driven by local, foreign demand

At least 2,000 plastic goods manufacturing units were set up in the last five years with the sector posting an average 20 per cent growth, the group insiders said.
With the new ones, the number of country's plastic manufacturing units now stands at 5,000. These units are currently making 2,500 types of plastic products, they added.
They expressed the hope the industry will grow further within a short period, if it gets more support.  
Kazi Anwarul Haque, a director Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA), said there is a huge demand for these plastic products at home and abroad.
 "If the sector gets support from the government such as reduction in freight charge and electricity subsidy, Bangladesh will be able to compete with China in making plastic products in near future," he said.
Mr Haque said Bangladesh will start exporting plastic spare parts of cars within a short time. "We can start exporting cars' spare parts within two or three years," he said, adding that they were getting offer from buyers to make the products.
There is a huge demand for such products in Germany and Japan, he added.
According to the BPGMEA data, currently 300 manufacturers export plastic goods worth nearly Tk 30 billion annually. Besides, the local market of Bangladeshi plastic products is about Tk 200 billion a year.   
Bangladesh exports a number of items like shopping bags, garbage bags, butcher bags, oven sacks, industrial films, PVC pipes and bags, polythene sheet, plastic hangers, hand gloves, ropes, plastic waste, V belt, toys, electric switches, polyester thread, computer accessories, video/audio cassettes, melamine table ware, toothbrush, ball pen, artificial flower and wall clock.
Plastic products are exported to the USA, North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East. Major exports are going to the countries like the UK, the USA, the UAE, India, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Bangladeshi-made household products are mainly exported to Africa, according to BPGMEA.
Manufacturers said the demand for plastic wastes is also increasing day by day in the international market. The export volume of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste bottle flakes is around 50,000 tonnes worth more than Tk 1.00 billion, according to sector insiders.
A four-day International Plastic Fair 2015 will to organised in the city beginning on January 27 aiming to give the industry a boost.
Some 400 local and foreign companies will participate in the 10th plastic fair to be organised jointly by the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and Chan Chao International Co Ltd of Taiwan.
The sector leaders said at least 200 stalls had already been booked by foreign companies and 120 by local ones.
Plastic products as well as machinery would be put on display at the fair. A good number of companies from different countries, including China, India Pakistan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, the USA, Vietnam, the UAE, Singapore, Italy, Indonesia and Malaysia would participate in the fair.
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