The competitive level between enterprises in the sector is not high due to the geographic distribution; the enterprise has its own market segment; high consumer demand. About 76% of enterprises in industry concentrated in the South, the competitive level of this area is higher than this in the North and the Central.

For the local market, the plastic index per Vietnamese people is quite low, so the growth opportunity of this sector is very huge. Besides, plastic products have high growth rates due to the replacement of traditional goods such as wood, leather.... and the ability of mass production, low cost.

For the export market: currently, the average export growth rate achieves 30% per year. The key export products are plastic bags, accounting for 70% of the total export volume. Vietnam plastics have advantages in export activities compared to other regional countries, especially China (advantages on custom tax).

Vietnam plastics industry have to import 80 -90% of input materials, while working as principal, raw material costs account for 70-75% of the production cost, so the exchange rate fluctuation would directly affect to the business activities of enterprises. In addition, the fluctuation of oil prices is also a risk.

In 2009, the expected growth of this sector is about 15% compared to the year 2008 and can maintain this growth in 2010.

Plastic packaging group will achieve the highest growth rate compared to other products as demand increases, with the growth forecasted to increase by 20% in 2010. Plastic products industry structure is also shifting to the trend of raising the proportion of plastic packaging products. (Translated by Hong Chau - News from Vinanet)