Insight for success: CIM Winter Survey with focus on market intelligence and strategies

Citation

(2012), "Insight for success: CIM Winter Survey with focus on market intelligence and strategies", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 41 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2012.12941caa.003

Insight for success: CIM Winter Survey with focus on market intelligence and strategies

Article Type: Industry news From: Pigment & Resin Technology, Volume 41, Issue 3

The chemical and plastic industries are still in a positive mood: more than one-third of the companies surveyed by Ceresana Research evaluate their current business situation as good. Only just less than 14 per cent rate their business situation as poor.

Almost 83 per cent of the survey participants expect their market share to increase over the next three years.

CIM barometer at 10.8 points

According to Ceresana, the current situation of the surveyed companies scores 10.1 points. The expectations, at 11.6 points, are even slightly better. All in all, the CIM Barometer slightly declined compared to the autumn survey. However, the diminished expectations in Western Europe, caused by the debt crisis, only slightly impact the overall mood. Excellent expectations worldwide – above all in Eastern Europe and North America – suggest a further upward trend.

Companies focus on foreign business

Organic growth and an increased market share abroad will boost growth in the chemical and plastic industries. The surveyed companies reflect an optimistic mood and believe to be well-informed. However, the survey results from Ceresana revealed that companies need to find better solutions for obtaining reliable market information. Although a clear majority of the respondents believe that new customers provide the largest potential for growth, the Ceresana Industry Monitor reveals that companies lack essential information when looking for new customers. About 30 per cent of the respondents say they lack information on potential clients abroad. Yet, the majority of the surveyed companies want to intensify their international business and expand their export share. “If companies want to achieve their growth targets and increase their market share abroad, they need a deep insight into potential markets,” says Oliver Kutsch, Managing Director of Ceresana. More than 40 per cent of those companies, which evaluate their information on potential customers abroad as good, also assess their current business situation as good, which is above the average.

Customer loyalty as a competitive advantage

More than 60 per cent of the surveyed companies say they stand out from the competition due to their customer loyalty and service. Approximately 18 per cent expect existing customers to be the strongest growth driver for their company. Most respondents see their strongest growth driver in new customers. They intend to satisfy their new clients with quality and design as well as highest quality technologies.

The majority of the surveyed companies see the most urgent need for action in technology and marketing as well as cost reduction. Particularly companies, which regard quality and design of their products as competitive advantages, want to lower costs. About 25 per cent of the respondents say they need to invest more in market information. Profound market intelligence of downstream sectors pays off: 43 per cent of those companies, which evaluate their information on downstream industries as good, also rate their current business situation as good. On an average, this is the case for only 34 per cent.

Ceresana industry monitor – methodology

The CIM analyzes the business climate of the global chemical and plastic industries. Individuals selected from a pool of more than 110,000 companies are asked to participate in our surveys every three months. The survey was answered by decision-makers from 46 countries. In order to provide a representative overall picture, companies of all sizes were asked about their current business situation, expectations, and evaluations. This allows for detecting future market trends, opportunities, and challenges on time. The detailed results can be obtained exclusively from Ceresana Research. The results offer a general overview of the chemical industry as well as detailed analyses of five industrial sectors: manufacturers of petrochemicals, plastics and elastomers, processors of plastics and elastomers, specialty chemistry, chemical trade as well as paints, varnishes and adhesives. Survey participants will get these in-depths reports for free.

For more information, please visit the web site: www.ceresana.com/en/cim/