With market demand for packaging machinery closing in on $800 million this year, and forecasted to grow between 4 and 5 percent through 2015, more and more PMMI members are integrating Brazil into their global sales plans.

“Brazil is becoming an area of real opportunity,” said Jorge Izquierdo, vice president of market development, PMMI. “However, as is the case with any foreign marketplace, Brazil presents a unique set of challenges with which international suppliers must contend.”

It is well known that the regulatory and tax systems can be burdensome, and high interest rates discourage capital spending. Despite these challenges, Brazil is a very appealing market for North American machinery suppliers, with strong currency vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar, a burgeoning consumer middle class, and ample inflows of investment capital from global CPG companies.

“It is critical that companies looking to uncover opportunities in Brazil have a clear understanding of how to navigate the complexities of the market,” said Jorge Izquierdo, vice president of market development, PMMI. “That is why Brazil was the focus of this year’s Export Conference at PMMI’s 2011 Annual Meeting.”

Last week over 60 PMMI member executives gained critical insight into the complexities of this dynamic marketplace from Indo-Bras Consulting President Anand Hemnani. Hemnani shared the findings of his newly released Brazil market research report sponsored by PMMI, available to members as a free download from PMMI.org, which analyzes packaging machinery trends across the food, beverage, personal care and pharmaceutical end-markets, the competitive environment in Brazil and includes purchasing profiles of 20 Brazilian CPG companies

The presentation was followed by a panel of PMMI members moderated by PMMI Vice President of Market Development, Jorge Izqueirdo. Panelists Chuck White, regional sales director, Econocorp; Nikola Vajda, president & CEO, Marlen International; and Ryan Schuelke, director of sales, Enercon Industries, shared their first-hand business experiences in Brazil with attendees.

For more information on how PMMI can help your company succeed in Brazil please contact PMMI’s Global Marketing Department at 703.243.8555, or international@pmmi.org.