The recent rumblings behind the scenes about possible price increases for packaging materials needed to recoup the rising cost of raw materials, transport and energy – see Plasteurope.com of 09.07.2008 – have taken on concrete shape with a statement by Greiner Packaging International (Kremsmünster / Austria; www.greiner-gpi.com).

Willi Eibner, CEO of the company that produces rigid plastic packs and lids for food, automotive and pharmaceuticals as well as other applications, said that, alongside the "more efficient use of materials,” higher prices are “unavoidable." In comments to PIE, Werner Ninaus, general manager of Greiner Packaging Austria, was more precise. He spoke of increases as high as the “double-digit percentage range,” effective immediately, in all the markets the company supplies.

In July, the French and German packaging associations complained of the burden of soaring polymer prices. More recently, the UK’s Packaging and Films Association (PAFA; www.pafa.org.uk) added its voice, warning that the current high prices could force some producers into bankruptcy.