Are these early signs of a turnaround? Last week, the business climate index of the Ifo Institute  turned slightly upwards again, and now plastic packaging industry association IK  is also reporting increased confidence among its member companies with regard to economic stabilisation.

According to a recent IK economic survey for the second quarter of 2025, “only” 57% of the 105 participating manufacturers of plastic packaging and films rated the general economic situation as poor. This is significantly lower than three months ago, when 70% of survey participants expressed pessimism. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains high – only 1% of plastic packaging and film manufacturers described the situation as good, while 42% still considered it to be satisfactory.

Laura Müller (Photo: IK)

IK rated the assessment of other economic factors as even more “robust” – despite the global trade uncertainties, export expectations remain largely stable – two thirds of companies in the sector expect export business to remain the same. The situation is similar when it comes to opinions on the availability of raw materials. More than three quarters of respondents (76%) do not expect significant restrictions in procurement. Continuity also emerges with regard to employment trends – 68% of survey participants are not planning any changes in their number of employees.

Sales expectations for the second quarter are largely balanced. A total of 59% of companies expect sales volumes to remain the same, 21% anticipate an improvement, and 20% expect a decline. According to IK, this reflects the different market positions and product specialisations within the industry, with industrial and commercial packaging as well as food film and bottles doing particularly well.

Manufacturers of plastic packaging and films took a less gloomy view of the earnings situation than in previous quarters. The proportion of those fearing a deterioration fell by 8 percentage points to 42%. At the same time, the share of companies with positive expectations rose by 3 percentage points to 10%. The majority of respondents – 48% – expect the earnings situation to remain stable. According to IK, this development indicates that the industry is slowly adapting to the challenging conditions.

“The results of our economic survey show a slight improvement in economic mood compared to the start of the year,” says Laura Müller, IK’s economic expert. “However, we are still operating in a challenging economic environment that requires companies to be highly adaptable.”