Sales of distributor Biesterfeld Plastic (Hamburg / Germany; www.biesterfeld-plastic.de) are likely to rise this year to around EUR 570m (in 2006: EUR 502m). This leap in sales is due entirely to organic growth, managing director Carsten Harms told Plasteurope.com at K 2007. Biesterfeld is thus benefiting from the trend among plastics producers to outsource distribution. Harms said the trend to outsourcing is especially pronounced for engineering plastics.

After its founding in 1988, the German distributor relatively quickly developed into a pan-European enterprise. In September 2007, it received confirmation that its strategy is on track, when the existing cooperation with DuPont (Europe: Geneva / Switzerland; www.dupont.com) was transformed into a long-term exclusive agreement covering 26 European countries. For PA, PBT, PET and copolyesters, the agreement extends to Turkey. Biesterfeld competitor Distrupol (www.distrupol.com) remains DuPont’s partner only in the UK and Scandinavia. High-performance plastics such as fluoropolymers, LCPs and speciality polyamides are also part of the distribution agreement.