From the Sector

After a long phase of continuous growth, the composites market has seen strong fluctuations since 2018. In 2023, the overall market for composites in Europe fell by 8%.

The current mood on the markets in Germany and Europe is rather negative within the industry. The main drivers are the persistently high energy and raw material prices. Added to this are problems in logistics chains and a cautious consumer climate. A slowdown in global trade and uncertainties in the political arena are fueling the negative sentiment. Despite rising registration figures, the automotive industry, the most important application area for composites, has not yet returned to its pre-2020 volume. The construction industry, the second key application area, is currently in crisis. These factors have already caused the Eu-ropean composites production volume to fall significantly in recent years. There has now been another decline in Europe for 2023.

Overall development of the composites market
The volume of the global composites market totalled 13 million tons in 2023. Compared to 2022, with a volume of 12.3 million tons, growth was around 5%. In comparison, the European composites production volume fell by 8% in 2023. The total European composites market thus comprises a volume of 2,559 kilotons (kt) after 2,781 kt in 2022.

The market is therefore declining and falling back to the level of 2014. Overall, market momentum in Europe was lower than in the global market. Europe's share of the global market is now around 20%.

As in previous years, development within Europe is not uniform. The differences are due to very different regional core markets, the high variability of the materi-als used, a wide range of different manufacturing processes and widely differing areas of application. Accordingly, there are different regional trends, especially with regard to the individual processes, although there were declines in all re-gions and for almost all processes in 2023. At almost 50% of the market volume, the transportation sector accounts for the largest share of total composites pro-duction in terms of volume. The next two largest areas are the electri-cal/electronics sector and applications in construction and infrastructure.

The entire market report 2023 is available for download: https://www.avk-tv.de/publications.php.

Since 11 February 2022, the Industrievereinigung Chemiefaser e. V. (IVC) has been listed in the German Lobby Register under registration number R000411. German Parliament decided in March 2021 to introduce the register.

Following various cases of suspected corruption and the rather poor marks by Transparency International for the German federal states in a lobby ranking, calls for greater transparency had grown louder. The Lobby Register Act came into force on 1 January 2022 after it had been agreed by the political parties of CDU/CSU and SPD in long negotiations. Now the act obliges professional lobbyists to make an entry in the publicly accessible register, providing details about their clients and financial expenditure.

Since the IVC has already been registered in the European Transparency Register for several years on a voluntary basis, the Frankfurt-based industry association of major man-made fibre manufacturers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is in favour of all initiatives that lead to more transparency in lobbying.

According to IVC's 1^st Chairman Klaus Holz (managing director of Trevira GmbH), the IVC sees the existing act as a first step towards strengthening the acceptance of organisations which seek and maintain political contacts. Holz deplores that many gaps and exemptions remain at the time being. He emphasizes: "It is up to the German legislator to bring about equal treatment of every stakeholder in the political arena in Berlin as quickly as possible, so that all those involved can meet on an equal footing."

Dr. Wilhelm Rauch, managing director of the IVC, adds: "We are also active on behalf of our industry throughout Europe for all issues relating to environmental protection and REACH. Therefore, it is essential for our work to know which organisations and persons we encounter in these efforts."