The European Compounders and Masterbatchers Association (EuMBC) has joined the growing clamor over the number of force majeure cases in Europe since the turn of the year.
In all, the association said it had been alerted to 11 cases by its members.
It stressed that a force majeure is defined as an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond control of the supplier or act of God and that only under these circumstances the supplier would be relieved from fulfilling its contractual obligations towards its customer.
But the Brussels-based EuMBC said it had not seen convincing evidence justifying these recent declarations.
It added its concern that the low availability and shortages of material as well as the significant price increases will affect the whole plastics chain, including consumers and subsequently will endanger employment in Europe.
The EuMBC was joined in addressing the issue of the recent force majeure declarations by the European Plastics Converters Association EuPC — the umbrella association under which EuMBC operates — which said it was concerned about the possible damaging effects for the downstream plastics industry.