John Nash of AMI Plastics is positive that the best is yet to come for the international synthetic turf industry. The rapid growth of the market and the entrance of new players (partly) investing in synthetic turf companies signal opportunities that can be capitalized on.

Here, here and here on this website you can read how well-established synthetic turf companies have explored new opportunities or were acquired in the past year. The industry is still growing and is inspiring for many investment companies to get involved in. Industry consultant John Nash has closely monitored the developments over the past 15 years and believes the market is anything but saturated. “The industry has grown very quickly in the last 10 years, which creates opportunities for new types of owners to get involved. New types of shareholders bring new appetite to the market and can help the industry engage more fully with the opportunities and address with increasing professionalism the challenges of the industry.” Nash will be talking about changing ownership in the industry at the upcoming Grass Yarn & Tufters forum from 2 to 4 May in Barcelona.

One of the most remarkable developments recently has been high-profile football player Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City becoming part-shareholder of the Sport & Leisure Group. “One of the challenges for the synthetic turf industry in soccer has been that elite players have rarely endorsed it as a playing surface,” says Nash. “I welcome a high-profile individual like Kevin De Bruyne investing as it is the sort of endorsement the industry has long hoped for.”

Nash sees this as indicative of the developments the synthetic turf industry has experienced in the past few years. “The benefits of a fast-growing industry include providing opportunities for new investment, taking advantage of new technology, better management processes and more robust strategies. The industry has seen many of the leading producers up their game strongly in recent years.”

Although wary of the international developments that affect the market for oil and oil-based products, Nash doesn’t fear the international synthetic turf market will be hit hard by these developments. “These are fast-evolving times. The fundamental proposition of synthetic grass is strong, and while rising prices may choke off some growth, they are unlikely to cause growth to reverse. The more agile and better run companies will find new opportunities and I hope the industry will evolve ultimately strengthened.”

John Nash will be just one of the speakers at the upcoming Grass Yarn & Tufters forum in Barcelona on 2-4 May. Here you will find an overview of the other speakers.

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