Page 7 - Plastics News December2018
P. 7

THE PRESIDENT
                                                                                   THE PRESIDENT SAYS SAYS


              The Convergence in November



                 his year, November has witnessed many changes; in the raw material prices especially in
              TPE and PP segments due to International raw material prices, US Dollar to INR conversion
              rates and other factors.
              Despite of Price protection, this erratic price behaviour of raw materials will make the manufacturer to
              suffer a lot.  The Swift change in Oil prices and changes in Forex price also jeopardised the decisions of
              Plastics manufacturers; in terms of raw material procurement and material planning, as this industry is
              very competitive and cost sensitive.  In many cases, a rupee change in raw material price is not bearable
              to the manufacturer. The external factors in raw material pricing are becoming major problems for the
              plastics processing industry and the principal raw material producing companies must come forward to
              help the processing industries.
              Incidentally it was in November that the “Make in Odisha Conclave” was held at Bhubaneshwar and I
              happened to be a Panellist for Panel discussion on “Business Opportunities in Polypropylene”. Odisha is
              rich in Mineral resources and many major companies are engaged in mineral exploration and processing   JAYADEV MEELA
              in Odisha.   Indian Oil Corporation is setting up Polypropylene plant with a capacity of 7,00,000 MT per
              annum, which is going to be fully operational from March 2019. East India is growing market for Plastics
              particularly with Odisha that has two very good ports Dhamra and Paradip.
              The Odisha Government has set up a Plastic Park in Paradip to promote Plastic industry in the state with
              good infrastructure facilities and incentives.  With growing urbanization and living standards, Odisha
              Plastics consumption is growing rapidly.  The port access and IOCL PP project will give a very good business
              opportunity for export of Plastics finished products, I personally foresee a very good demand for Plastic
              furniture, packaging, Medical equipment in domestic market and Export market.
              AIPMA had organized a two-day event in November called ‘Plast-Talk’ a conference on “Smart Processing:
              Value Creation through Atomization& Digitalization” in Mumbai. The Chief Guest Mr. Tang Guocai, Consul
              General of People’s Republic of China, Mumbai has emphasized on Indo China Trade relations and Culture.
              He quoted that bilateral Indo China Trade up to September 2018 has crossed 72 Billion US dollar and
              Indian Exports are also increased significantly.
              Ms. Aparna Sharma, Joint Secretary, Department of Chemcials and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals
              & Fertilizers, Government of India has acknowledged the contribution of Plastics Industry to the Indian
              Economy with their 40,000 plus industrial units.  She emphasized on Zero Defect and Zero Effect initiatives
              and adoption of newer technologies and systems for efficient production and cost control.

              Mr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, Deputy  Director,  Chanakya  International  Institute  of  Leadership Studies,
              University of Mumbai, in his Special Guest note shared his views on 7 pillars of Business Leadership and
              other Business standards.
              The ‘Plast-Talk’ was a good conference for the new and latest developments in Plastics manufacturing
              sector  for  automization,  digitization,  material  handling  systems, Artificial  Intelligence,  Production
              systemization, cloud computing and so on.  Industrial Stalwarts were present in the meeting and presented
              their papers and case studies for the benefit of the Plastics Industry.

              Wish Merry Christmas and A Happy New year to all our readers!

                                                                                  Jayadev Meela

                                                                           president@aipma.net



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