Exporters called on to create innovative plastic designs

Vietnamese exporters need to diversify their designs of plastic products and increase investment in market research to further penetrate the Japanese market, an expert has said.
“Profit comes from not only production and processing but also from innovation and creativity that can meet market demand,” said Fumio Koyama, senior advisor at Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Speaking at a meeting yesterday in HCM City on Japanese imports of plastics, Koyama said exporters should also pay more attention to investing in infrastructure and machinery.
In Viet Nam, there are more than 2,000 plastics manufacturers, including foreign-invested enterprises. About 80 per cent of them are located in HCM City and southern provinces, and most are small-scale operations.
Investment in high technology will help businesses compete with strong companies in domestic and export markets, he said.
The domestic plastic sector must import 80 per cent of its materials, so the fluctuation of plastics prices directly affects production expenses and makes business more volatile, Koyama said.
Because the cost for raw materials in Viet Nam is 10-15 per cent higher than in China or India, the plastics industry has become less competitive on price when exporting to other countries, including Japan.
The Vietnamese plastic industry has had a growth rate of 15-20 per cent per year. Total export turnover has seen an increase year-on-year. Last year, the plastic industry’s export turnover reached more than US$1 billion while it was $950 million in 2009.
The US was the biggest importer of Vietnamese-made plastics, but in 2009, because of an American anti-dumping action against Viet Nam, Japan became the biggest country for Vietnamese exports.
In the first half of last year, Japan was the largest plastic importer accounting for 26.5 per cent of total exports, followed by the US with 13.2 per cent and Germany with 8.1 per cent.
According to the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, total export turnover to Japan will reach $255 million this year, with plastic exports accounting for 24.7 per cent of the total.
Still, Viet Nam exports only $235 million worth of plastics to Japan, although import demand is around $8 billion.
Vietnamese exporters, lacking experience and market information, have not manufactured a sufficient variety of products that meet Japan’s strict regulations on quality and design. —VNS

Tags: Vietnam plastics industry

Posted by VBN on May 21 2011. Filed under Rubber & Plastic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry