TPi April 2008

news business & market

in all areas of application and the development of new market segments continues. One example is the area- wide introduction of gas pipes into residential installations, which could provide the industry in this sector with robust growth rates. Kunststoffrohrverband eV – Germany kunststoffrohrverband@krv.de www.krv.de

Before the backdrop of the US real estate finance crisis, the German plastic tube industry approached the second half of 2007 with guarded optimism. In conjunction with the rising oil prices and the increased export costs caused by the low dollar vis-à-vis the Euro exchange rate, the KRV fears an accelerated weakening of the German economy.

concrete waste water pipes. Also with a view to vitrified clay tubes, the situation for plastic tube systems is positive. KRV calculations show that the market share of vitrified clay tubes dropped between 1996 and 2006 in the disposal sector by 18% overall as compared to PVC U-tubes. In the area of residential land drainage, vitrified clay tubes were all but replaced. This development is also supported by survey results provided by the Deutsche Vereinigung für Wasserwirtschaft, Abwasser und Abfall eV (DWA), the German Association for Water Management, Waste Water and Waste. They show that the share of plastic tube systems in the material distribution in German drainage networks increased in 2004 as compared to 2001 from 2.3% to a total of 6%. Concrete/reinforced concrete, fibrated cement and cast steel remained at steady levels considering all nominal diameters. At the same time, the share of vitrified clay tubes in the network material distribution was reduced from 44.2% to 40%. The volume increases of plastic tube systems in newly installed and reconstructed pipelines are estimated to have been even higher, since the numbers only consider the existing network. In residential technology applications, there was a positive development for plastic tubes in 2006. Plastics tubes were able to capture some of the market share of copper piping in residential drinkingwater installations and improved by approximately 2 million metres, an increase of 2.2%. According to the KRV, significant amounts of installed plastic tubes are used in the area of premises and building technology for area heating and cooling, which in total is estimated to represent about 65% of the German plastic tube production for premises and building technology. During the first quarter of 2007, plastic tube system production increased by 9.6% or 13,000 tons as compared to the comparable period of the previous year. At the same time, the growth of the materials used in pipe system production continued for polypropylene with a rate of 48.1%, for polyethylene with 24.8% and for PVC with 12.2%. KRV Association members state that the production increases mainly flowed into waste and supply tubes.

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH – Germany www.messe-duesseldorf.com

On the other hand, the market penetration of plastic tube systems

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April 2008 Tube Products International