Pipe consumption likely to rise by 5-10% with help from the state

The plastic pipe system market, including both the PVC and the PE segments, is likely to register a 5-10% increase in 2010, provided the state unfreezes funding for infrastructure, at least in the second half, writes Business Construct magazine. Otherwise, the main players hope for stagnation at best. The biggest issue this year is still related to the state's paying its debts, which would allow for the constructions industry to be unfrozen, state the representatives of Teraplast, a major player on the market. The PVC pipe market dropped by around 20% last year from 2008, and the growth pace expected for this year will not cover the sales decline of 2009. On the PE pipe segment, the 2009 decline was slightly smaller, of a little above 9% against the previous year. The 2010 growth projection is not large enough to cover last year's slump on this segment, either. Besides the state's renewed infrastructure investments, pipe market growth also depends on resumed lending in the private sector.