8/2/2019 El Caso de la Industria de Plásticos de Canadá

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The Case for the Canadian Plastics Industry 

With over 3,400 companies employing 113,000 workers,

Canada's $33-billion plastics industry is a sophisticated,multi-faceted sector encompassing plastics products,machinery and moulds, and synthetic resins. Canadianmachinery manufacturers have gained an internationalreputation for high quality injection moulding,thermoforming machinery, blown film extrusion systems,extruders for corrugated pipe and other plastic profiles.

Canada’s plastics industry is closely integrated with other

advanced manufacturing sectors such as aerospace,automotive, medical devices and telecommunications. Mostcompanies are Canadian-owned small- and medium-sizedfirms seeking partnerships and alliances to grow theirbusiness and share the rewards of investing in Canada.

Sector strengths

Plastic Products

Canadian exports of plastic products have grown

spectacularly from 18% of total shipments in 1990 to 44%in 2008, when exports totalled $7.8 billion. Canada’s

plastics processing industry represents 4.2% of 

manufacturing GDP and 5.3% of total manufacturing

employment. Growth in the Canadian plastics industry has

been fuelled by a dramatic increase in domestic capacity to

produce synthetic resins. Over 2,600 firms process

synthetic resins into plastic products generating shipments

worth $17.9 billion and employing more than 86,000people.

Competitive clusters

Canada has world-class clusters of companies thatencompass the full length of the supply chain. The plasticsindustry is present in all provinces of Canada, but isconcentrated in Ontario, Québec, Alberta and British

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Columbia. Central Canada benefits from the synergy thatresult from having groupings of firms in all four subsectorsof the industry – synthetic resins, plastics processingmachinery, moulds, and plastic products. Alberta is the

largest producer of petrochemicals in Canada, the essentialingredients to make plastic products. In British Columbia,the plastics industry has grown to satisfy both domestic andexport markets. Whatever the location, these clusters offerhigh-quality, low-cost operating environments that provideeven better levels of profitability.

 Toronto The business and financial centre of Canada, the Greater Toronto Area is home to the corporate headquarters forindustry leaders such as BASF Canada, DuPont Canada,Husky Injection Molding Sytems, Mold-Masters, ABC Group,Woodbridge Group and StackTeck Systems.

MontréalMontréal has an integrated cluster ranging from petroleumrefineries to petrochemicals to plastic products. Thelocation offers a tanker terminal for ocean shipments anddirect access to the large eastern and central U.S. and

Canadian markets. The region's vast supply of diverse andrelatively inexpensive energy provides another advantageto manufacturers.

EdmontonEdmonton, and its surrounding region, is home to anintegrated complex of upgrading, refining, petrochemicalsand plastic products. Exceptional economic growth, drivenlargely by new investments in the oil sands, has created

strong demand for producers along the total value chain.VancouverVancouver is Canada's gateway to the Pacific. A strongcluster of firms producing plastic products has evolved inthe Vancouver area – both to serve local markets and forexport to the fast-growing markets along the western U.S.seaboard and to Asia.

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Aplicación (Ejercicio):

La compañía Mirgrim Plast. Es una subsidiaria de unconglomerado internacional que tiene grandes intereses enla industria doméstica. Tiene plantas localizadas en Ontario,Quebec, Alberta. Las plantas producen componentesprefabricados que son entregados a otras compañíasensambladoras en Edmonton, Vancouver y ColumbiaBritánica. La demanda ha crecido al punto de que MirgrimPlast puede justificar la construcción de otra planta.

El problema inmediato es identificar una ubicación quereduzca los costos de producción y de transporte hacia lasplantas armadoras existentes. En función de la cercanía delas fuentes de materias primas y para servir a otrosprobables mercados, las ubicaciones de las plantas que seproponen están restringidas a Toronto y Montreal. Los datosde costos, demanda y capacidad de producción de talesalternativas está en la siguiente tabla:

Los costos de Transporte, $ por unidad son los siguientes:

¿Cuál de las dos ubicaciones de planta (Toronto o Montreal)es la recomendable desde el punto de vista económico?

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  Justifique su elección diferenciando los costos totales decada red (De distribución + Producción).