The Plexconcil report for October 2023 says India exported plastics worth USD 933 million, higher by 9.4% from USD 852 million in October 2022. The cumulative value of plastics export from April 2023 to October 2023 was USD 6,513 million as against USD 7,232 million during the same period last year, registering a decline of 9.9%.

Sribash Dasmohapatra, the executive director, at Plexconcil, said, "We are pleased to see a positive movement in exports of most of the product segments in October. We hope that this trend continues into the next few months, and we are able to achieve overall growth despite the dampening performance in the past six months." 

As part of Plexconcil's efforts to promote Indian plastics exports, the Council organised buyer-seller meetings with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico with the support of the Indian embassies in Guatemala (concurrently accredited to El Salvador and Honduras) and Mexico. Promotional meetings were also held with stakeholders in Costa Rica with support from the Embassy of India in Panama. 

According to Plexconcil, Central America is an emerging market and "presents immense opportunities for exports". Also, it's a strategic location makes it the ideal gateway for North and South American continents. 

Dasmohapatra said, "The Council plans to help exporters tap into opportunities in these markets. On the other hand, the Council will also be leading one of its largest trade delegations of 73+ participants under the India Pavilion to ARABPLAST in UAE in December. We have been monitoring data and identifying countries and regions with high export potential and such initiatives have been designed to extend our industry’s outreach to these strategic markets."

Dasmohapatra added, "Furthermore more, we had a fruitful meeting with Embassy of India, Washington DC and active discussions were held regarding making deeper inroads into the American market and reaching out to retail chains such as Walmart, Costco, Target etc who may be interested in sourcing plastic goods from India."

Packaging items - flexible, rigid export surged by 18.1% on account of higher sales of sacks and bags of plastics, carboys, bottles, flasks and similar articles for the conveyance or packaging of goods made up of plastics and articles for the conveyance or packaging of goods of plastics. India mainly exports packaging items - flexible, rigid to North America and Europe.

Plastic films & sheets export were higher by 12.1% in October 2023 on account of improved sales of self-adhesive tape of plastics, films and sheets of polymers of ethylene, and films and sheets of polyethylene terephthalate. Indian exporters of plastic films and sheets informed that the export market has begun to show signs of improvement since the end of June 2023 quarter, with demand for the BOPP starting to recover. They are, however, concerned about the introduction of new capacities and an expected surge in supply of BOPET films.
 
Export of plastic pipes & fittings increased by 14.3% due to higher sales of rigid tubes and pipes of polymers of vinyl chloride and fittings like joints, elbows and flanges of plastics for pipes. The stabilisation in PVC prices helped increase the offtake.  

Plastics raw materials exports increased by 4.0% in October 2023 due to a rise in sales of polyethylene having a specific gravity of 0.94 or more, linear low density polyethylene and other acrylic polymers. Export of low-density polyethylene from India reported its highest-ever export in as many as two years in October 2023.

Export of writing instruments and stationery improved by 7.5% in October 2023 due to increase in sales of ball-point pens to Algeria, Kenya, and Thailand.