The plastic pipe industry continues to be one of the largest polymer consumers in Europe. The market research group Applied Market Information (AMI, GB-Bristol BS1 3QP; www.amiplastics.com) estimates overall tonnage at 2.8m t in 2004. With around 56%, PVC accounts for the highest share, followed by PE with 36%. From 2005-2010, AMI expects European plastic pipe consumption to continue growing at around 2% a year.

The new EU countries in central Europe will provide an important stimulus for growth, but Germany´s weakness is seen as likely to continue. On the applications side, the researchers´ forecasts for gas and water pipes are optimistic, especially as the aging public utility networks in many countries need to be repaired, replaced or extended, and gas is gaining increasing popularity as a source of energy.

According to AMI, there are more than 545 plastic pipe extruders in Europe, all of which are listed in the new, recently published edition of “AMI´s Guide to the Thermoplastics Pipe Extrusion Industry in Europe”. This latest guide also illustrates the concentration in the European plastic pipes industry – about a third of the companies reviewed belong to the industry´s 50 largest players, whose combined market share is around 80%. In fact, the top 10 groups represent more than half of the total plastic pipe production.

By far the largest European producer of plastic pipes is Wavin (NL-8000 AD Zwolle; www.wavin.com), with an estimated annual polymer consumption of nearly 400,000 t. It is followed by Pipelife (A-2351 Wiener Neudorf; www.pipelife.com), a joint venture between Wienerberger and Solvay, and Uponor (FIN-01511 Vantaa; www.uponor.com), each with over 200,000 t. Uponor, however, has largely withdrawn from several standard pipe fields and is concentrating on higher-value applications such as heating and sanitary pipes.

Uponor´s sales in 2004 amounted to EUR 1.07 bn (see PIE 07, 2005). Wavin pushed up its sales by 10% in 2004 to EUR 1.03 bn (see PIE 06, 2005). In central and eastern Europe, it posted a spectacular increase, in the order of 29%. In the current year, too, eastern Europe will remain the company´s number one growth region.

Pipelife´s strategy also seems to be “eastward-ho.” With the recent complete takeover of the Hungarian Pannonpipe joint venture, which it established in partnership with Pannonplast (H-1225 Budapest; www.pannonplast.hu) – see PIE 17, 2005 – a further step has been taken towards strengthening its presence in eastern Europe. In 2004, Pipelife, which has 2,800 employees at more than 30 sites in 26 countries, had sales of EUR 608m.

Due to the unchanged capacity overhang in Europe, the restructuring of the plastic pipe industry will carry on in the next few years, so that mergers and plant closures will continue to be the order of the day, says AMI. As to volumes, Italy, with a polymer consumption for pipe extrusion of nearly 460,000 t this year, has since overtaken Germany (around 430.000 t), where the decline in the construction industry has been particularly marked in the past few years.

The new AMI publication contains listings of all plastic pipe producers in 19 European countries, with descriptions of the pipe ranges and the polymers they use. The study also covers the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Book Service: AMI´s guide to “The Thermoplastics Pipe Extrusion Industry in Europe”, 3rd edition, 2005, 270 pages, softcover, EUR 285.00 + VAT: PIE-No. B 46977.