cork

" Cork is the most natural insulating material and its qualities have created an industry that manufactures cork for a wide variety of uses，such as fashion, construction and decoration. For example, global demand for caps and closures is forecast to expand at an annual pace of 4.8 percent through 2009 to $25.2 billion, representing close to 1.4 trillion units. Cork acts an important role in this expansion. For many decades the cork sector has lived with a false sense of security and the belief of being in a market niche with no possible competition. This has led to an almost complete absence of activities aimed at the promotion of cork. At the same time, competitive substitutes have been rapidly developed and aggressively marketed by the plastics industries. The substitutes market has intruded on the cork industry using two seemingly conflicting strategies. One is to produce a product that is as visually similar to cork as possible and even to use the word ""cork"" deliberately and incorrectly in the promotion of substitute products. The second is to make a flat denial of any connection with natural cork, a product that is unstable, unclean and difficult to manage. Above average gains are expected in the world's emerging markets, especially those in Asia. China will lead the way (in both value and unit terms) through 2009, surpassing the US as the largest cork market in the world in unit terms."