Thousands of job cuts are still expected in the rubber and plastics industry according to the latest Business Conditions Survey from the British Plastics Federation. The Federation says that 37 per cent of respondents to the survey expect to reduce staff over the next 12 months, which if extrapolated could mean a further 6,800 job losses.

 A problem still haunting the industry and getting worse is that of credit insurance. The survey has shown that whereas 48 per cent of respondents were having difficulty in getting credit insurance in January, 79 per cent of respondents to the latest survey report problems with obtaining insurance. As well as hampering rubber and plastics companies' operations now, the BPF says restrictions on credit insurance have the potential "to seriously blunt the impact of the recovery".
 

When that recovery will come is by no means certain. The BPF's survey shows that "the industry appears to be bouncing along the bottom of a deep trough". Some 44 per cent of plastics companies expect their UK sales turnover to remain the same over the next 12 months and 35 per cent expected a modest increase in the 5 - 10 per cent range from a low base.