Despite all the economic doom and gloom around, the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) look likely to buck the downward trend. Recent predictions expect India’s economy to grow by 5.1% in 2009 while many European countries will see negative growth of around 2%. So there is good news for companies already investing in India and those considering that market. For companies in the cosmetics and toiletries industry the news is even better. Sales in this sector grew by 46% in the period between 2002 and 2007 and are set to continue at this rate to 2012 (according to Euromonitor).
Dedicated exhibition
One exhibition serving the ingredients’ side of this market is in-cosmetics India, which has also seen similar growth. For the 2008 event visitor numbers were up by 65% with 2,588 people through the doors over two days. Companies wanting to capitalise on India’s market growth welcome the opportunity to exhibit at in-cosmetics India because it provides a unique platform for personal care ingredient suppliers and buyers to meet. Clariant is one example. Global business director Elmar Busch says: “For us in-cosmetics India is a success story and we will continue to exhibit in future years because we believe that there is a real market for our products in India.” In fact a good number of companies have already signed up for the 2009 event including: Ajinomoto, B&T, BASF India, Chemspark India, Cognis, Gattefossé, ICI India, Kuhs, Laboratoires Sérobiologiques, Sinerga, and Yasham Bio-Science to name a few. Perhaps these companies have heard the predictions by research agencies that India is not likely to be as affected by the economic crunch due to the emerging middle class. Absolute growth rates are predicted to remain positive even if lower than predicted a few years ago.
‘Significant growth’
Ravi Raghavan, editor of the Indian publication Chemical Weekly agrees and says: “The Indian cosmetics industry, in its early stages of growth, is expected to maintain a higher growth rate than in other more mature markets. Although the absolute rates will be a little lower than anticipated at the beginning of the downturn, it will still offer significant scope for ingredient suppliers. There will be mounting cost pressures on the industry, but innovative companies who can address this through appropriate alternative solutions, backed by good science and application development support, will be winners.” In-cosmetics India is staged by Reed Exhibitions and the 2009 event will be held in Mumbai from 9 to 10 September. More information about the event is available by visiting www.in-cosmeticsindia.com or emailing: incosindiateam@reedexpo.co.uk
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
