Carl-Johan Levert, CEO of Mastercolor AB told FoodProductionDaily.com that around 20 per cent of the 180 tonnes supplied during the first year of the agreement were likely to be used in for blow-moulded bottles, predominantly for the beverage industry.
Demand for plastic bags and garbage bags would likely account for the most of the rest of the material for markets in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, with a small amount destined for plastic cutlery.
Doubling of demand
The contract includes a minimum of four containers of Cereplast resin over the remainder of 2011, a number anticipated to grow in 2012 and beyond.
Levert said material would be available for delivery to the Scandinavian countries by mid-September, adding he estimated the volume of resin would double to 360 tonnes in year two of the deal.
Cereplast said the transaction marks its seventh distribution agreement in Europe in 2011.
“The surge in demand for bioplastic materials in Europe has been fuelled by new governmental policies, which started with restrictions on the use of traditional plastic bags and is now moving toward changes of the legislative landscape in the use of flexible and rigid packaging,” said company chairman and CEO Frederic Scheer.
Financial growth
Last week, the US-based company announced that second quarter net sales had grown ten-fold year-on-year to US$7.6m, with gross profit posted at US$923,000.
Net sales for the first six months of 2011 were $14.9m, compared to $936,000 for the same period a year ago, with gross profit reported as $1.6 million.
Cereplast estimates that full year revenues could reach US$34m.