4% Recession in 2003 French Laboratory Market

Laboratory suppliers in France suffered a 4% recession in 2003 for the first time since the Interprofessional Committee of Laboratory Suppliers (CIFL, Paris, France) began keeping statistics on this market.

According to the CIFL, there were four main reasons for this recession. One was the freeze of credits allocated to public laboratories in 2003, and this market represents about 40% of the activity of the suppliers. Other reasons were the delocalization of numerous research centers in the pharmaceutical industry, and concerns about the upcoming Reach project in the chemical industry. Finally, the biotechnology sector cut its expenses by 5.2% in 2003, compared to 2002. The combination of these elements accounted for a decrease of 5.5% in investments linked to lab instrumentation. Over the same period, the purchase of current supplies for laboratory functioning dropped 2%.

For 2004, the CIFL anticipates a progressive decline in this sector over the next few months but is counting on its professional trade show to boost activity.





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