Plastic prices have been rising for some time.
Not least, the pandemic has increased demand and made production chains strained.
Now the price is also rising due to the war in Ukraine.
It is partly about rising prices for energy and raw materials, partly that some of the additives used in plastics production are produced in Russia and that imports have now been stopped, reports Swedish Radio Ekot.
Pork fillet, cucumbers and diapers
Above all, it is polyethylene, soft plastic that is increasing in price.
- It is the most common type of plastic found around the pork fillet, and cucumber and in diapers for example, says Andreas Malmberg, CEO of the plastic manufacturer Trioworld.
He says that consumer prices for the plastic part in food have increased by around 70 percent since the beginning of last year, but are expected to increase by another 20 percentage points in April.
The consumer, who is already affected by increased prices for several foods, therefore gets a "double pacifier" when you also have to pay more for the packaging.
As an example, Andreas Malmberg takes a bread packed with plastic.
- The bag around the bread cost maybe around 50 öre for the consumer a year ago and now the cost is about one kroner.
"Just started"
It's not just food that is affected.
- Plastic is in principle all product categories: food, medical equipment and clothing.
And even though the soft plastic has increased the most in price, it is a general increase on all plastics, says Malmberg.
How plastic prices develop in the future is affected, among other things, by oil and gas deliveries from Russia, but also how well the production chains recover after the pandemic.
However, Andreas Malmberg is sure that it will be more expensive before it turns around.
- We have only begun to see the development that inflationary pressures entail, it will continue.
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