CPRJ survey finds Chinese plastics industry optimistic about post-pandemic market recovery

The coronavirus pandemic is hitting the global economy. To what extent it is affecting  the Chinese plastics industry and its future outlook? 

A survey conducted by AdsaleCPRJ.com to find out the situations  has received valid feedback from 355 respondents between February 21 and March 5.

It was found that most of the respondents expected this year's turnover to be flat or down from last year for their companies. However, over 70% of them said they are optimistic about the future. Meanwhile, more than 30% said they will strengthen their online marketing tools as a way to improve their business.

More than 70% of the respondents are optimistic that the market will return to normal in the next six to 12 months. 

Industry and firm size of the respondents 

Most of the respondents from the upstream sector come from chemicals and raw materials industries (23.38%), followed by machinery and equipment industries (11.27%). The respondents from the downstream sector come from automotive, packaging, and consumer electronics/home appliance industries (about 15% each), medical industry (7.61%), as well as construction/infrastructure and testing services industries.

In terms of firm size, the number of employees of the respondents' companies ranges from fewer than 50 to more than 500. Among them, 26.20% come from companies with more than 500 employees, and 24.79% come from companies with 101-300 employees. The respondents come from companies with fewer than 50 employees and 301-500 employees accounted for about 19.44% and 10% respectively.

In addition, 20.85% of the respondents said the products of their companies are all for domestic sales in China, 38.31% said their products are mainly for domestic sales, 21.69% said their products are equally for domestic and overseas sales while 10.7% said their products are mainly for overseas markets. For those who said their products are all for export accounted for only 8.45%.

About 40% of the respondents’ companies have resumed production 

Regarding the current production and operation status, as of the end of the survey, 39.35% of the respondents said their companies has resumed normal production, 23.94% said part of the production has been restarted while 13.18% said their companies have increased  production output. Besides, 7.10% said their companies have halted production.

About 20% of the respondents considered “fixed expenditure” as the main problem they are facing after operation was postponed, while some said “rising raw material prices” and “rising logistics costs” were their main difficulties (about 15% each). 16.63% said the main problem was a lack of workers and 13.4% said a decrease in market demand has affected them most..

Automotive industry most negatively affected 

At a recent press conference of the State Council Information Office of China, the authorities said the coronavirus outbreak has an  impact on China's economic operation in the short term. They also remarked that labor-intensive industries, as well as industries that heavily rely on a supply chain, such as electronics and automotive industries, will be particularly affected in the short term.

In the CPRJ survey, respondents were asked to choose an industry which they thought would be most affected by the pandemic. 23.42% of respondents believed that the automotive industry would be hit hardest, while 17.82% and 16.51% thought the construction industry and the FMCG packaging industry respectively would suffer most. Other industries are  home appliances (13.91%), consumer electronics (12.48%) and infrastructure (9.36%)

23.42% of respondents believed that the automotive industry would be hit hardest.

The four major impacts of the pandemic on the overseas markets include: declined import by China, resulting in a market slump (22.69%); a disrupted global supply chain (21.45%); price fluctuation of some raw materials (21.09%) and some products missing the sales season (20.96%).

Medical and healthcare sectors expected to grow 

When asked to predict the post-pandemic market situation,  21.13% of respondents anticipated  growth in the home medical devices sector.  Home healthcare appliances, medical and healthcare products, as well as consumer electronics sectors were also considered to have good growth potential. (Refers to the diagram below)

Turnover expected to be flat or down this year 

In terms of companies’ turnover, only about 10% of the respondents expected an increase for this year. More than 70%  forecast a decrease. Among them, most predicted a decrease of 10%-20%. Meanwhile, 14.93% of the respondents anticipated that the turnover will be flat.

In terms of companies’ turnover, only about 10% of the respondents expected an increase for this year.

Strengthening online marketing tools a popular solution 

In order to counteract the negative effects, 34.18% of  respondents said they will strengthen their online marketing tools, compared with 21.4% who said they will look for financing channels.

Other respondents said they will adopt cross-industry business model (14.12%), reduce product prices (12.63%) and resort to layoffs or pay cuts (11.29%).

Besides, about 27% of respondents hope to receive tax relief or subsidies from the govenrment, while about 20% look for more financing services.  About 14% wish to expand their businesses through online webinars/online classrooms/live broadcasts. 

Only about 5% of the respondents chose to develop their businesses through offline business meetings.

Over 70% of respondents expressed optimism 

Most importantly, more than 70% of the respondents are optimistic that the market will return to normal in the next six to 12 months, compared with 17.46% who are less optimistic.

At a glance: 

• AdsaleCPRJ.com conducted a survey to find out the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on the Chinese plastics industry, and received valid feedback from 355 respondents from February 21 to March 5.

• 39.35% of respondents said their companies have resumed normal production while 21.46% said they are facing financial difficulties.

• About 90% of respondents expected their companies’ turnover to be flat or down this year. However, over 70% of respondents are optimistic that the market will return to normal in the next six to 12 months.

• Most of respondents (21.13%) expected the household medical devices sector to grow after the pandemic is over.       

34.18% of respondents said they will strengthen online marketing tools  for their businesses.

Source：Adsale Plastics Network  link : https://www.adsalecprj.com/en/news_show-68222.html