| Injection Moulding Machinery in the Indian Scenario for 2000-2001 |
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This article is a result of interviews conducted by our team with leading manufacturers of Injection Moulding machinery.
The injection moulding machine industry was very buoyant from 1995 onwards. There has been a definite slow down in the sale of injection moulding equipment since late 1999. Industry Experts estimate that the last year saw almost 20% lower sales.
While the actual number of equipment sold could not be ascertained, nobody from the industry has projected the sales to be more than 1300 machines in the financial year 2000-2001.
What has been the break up of these 1300 machines?
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The domestic market, comprising of almost 60 suppliers possibly sold about
1000-1100 machines. These Injection molding machines are ranged from 15T to as high as 2000T clamping systems. |
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Major Indian suppliers from the organised sector like Cincinnati, DGP Windsor, Electronica and L&T account for more than 80% share of the domestic sales. |
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The remaining 200 were imported from European as well Asian regions, including China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. |
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The European machinery suppliers like Arburg, Battenfeld, Engel etc, sold around 100 machines. |
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The Asian region could account for at least 100 of the remaining machinery. |
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Husky & Netstal concentrated mainly on PET pre form products. |
What has been the reason behind these low sales figures?
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The Auto & FMCG sectors that have been the major driving force behind complete turnkey projects during earlier years have slowed down. |
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The electronic sector also did not buy injection moulding equipment as compared to the expectations of the industry. |
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The PP furniture industry, that has almost 240 equipments, is unable to fully utilise its capacity. In fact, the industry has worked at only 50% capacity during 2000-2001. |
However, what is heartening to learn is, that most of the new machinery was intended for additional new processing capacity, rather than replacement of the old equipment. Industry experts estimate, that about 250KT of new processing capacity was created in the year 2000. Another important aspect, of the Indian injection moulding sector, is that processors have been setting up moulding shops with better technology.
Has there been any technology upgradation?
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Good quality moulds have been obtained from countries like Switzerland and other European countries. |
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In fact, many moulders of TV cabinets, as well as other electronic items, are increasingly setting up World quality machines, with gas assist mould systems. |
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Hot runner systems have been increasingly used to improve the quality of moulded products. |
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Two-component moulding has also been introduced in India, particularly for the toothbrush industry. |
However, there are a few technologies, which have not created inroads in India.
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Electronic drive machines have not yet taken off in India. Experts feel, that it would take quite some time before they are used. Apparently, the high cost and the service requirements of servomotors, that are used in the electronic drive machines, are the limiting factors. |
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In-mould decoration is still not very popular in India. |
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The industry has also not shown any interest in the most recent Mucell Technology. |
General slow down of Indian economy and increasing imports of low cost plastics products from China and other Asian countries, are the two major reasons for the lack of optimism among the Indian injection moulding equipment suppliers. In fact, most of the big Indian suppliers have started putting more effort on Export markets since they expect a slow down in 2001. |