MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany's chemical industry association VCI (Frankfurt) says a survey of its members has highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the R&D plans of chemical companies, with 60% stating that they intend to carry out research projects as planned and about 30% saying individual R&D projects have been postponed for at least several months, reported Chemweek.
Only 2% say they have scrapped projects altogether. The chemical industry in Germany is, however, increasingly showing restraint about external research contracts during the crisis, VCI says.
The industry will not this year reach the record research budget set in 2019 of EUR13 billion (USD15.51 billion), as a result of the uncertain economic environment caused by COVID-19, it says. Thomas Wessel, chairman/committee for research, science and education at VCI, however, is convinced the industry will further strengthen its innovation ability in the long term with high R&D investments, and notes that to do so “Germany must undergo a metamorphosis in order to emerge stronger from the crisis.”
Wessel says that this presupposes favorable framework conditions for research and innovation that include ensuring liquidity of companies to carry out their R&D projects; improving funding for start-ups to support their growth; making funding procedures less bureaucratic and thus more flexible and agile; strengthening biotechnology by utilizing it more widely; and increasing education spending, to intensifying STEM teaching and drive forward digitalization in schools.
As MRC informed before, Germany's VCI says that production of chemicals, excluding pharmaceuticals, went up 1.5% on a year-on-year basis, in the country during the first quarter, and increased 3.6% compared with the final quarter of 2019. This is mainly because of strong demand for hygiene products and packaging materials, VCI says. Nevertheless, the “full force” of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has not yet been felt by the industry, VCI says.
We remind that the European Council decided, after a special meeting held on 21 July, to introduce a levy on non-recycled discarded plastic as part of the EU's COVID-19 recovery plan. However, Germany's chemical industry association VCI (Frankfurt) had, prior to the EU Council’s meeting, expressed opposition to the project because it adds a regulatory and cost burden rather than supporting packaging recyclability.
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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