kunststoff information verlagsgesellschaft mbh

What kunststoff information verlagsgesellschaft mbh does

Kunststoff Information Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (KI) is a privately held German B2B media and business intelligence company founded in 1970 and headquartered in Bad Homburg. It serves executives and decision-makers across the plastics industry in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with a subscription-based information platform built around the KIWeb online portal. The platform aggregates daily industry news, contract and spot polymer prices across Western Europe, manufacturer announcements, market and application reports, capacity data, and a 50+ year archive of plastics industry coverage. Managed by Ulrike Mau (Geschäftsführerin), KI operates with a stated headcount of 1-10 employees and claims the highest paid subscription count among comparable German plastics industry publications.

The company's product architecture follows a portal-plus-modules model. The core KIWeb portal is supplemented by premium modules including the Plastixx price index, Polymerpreis-Forecasts for ethylene and propylene, the Spotpreis-Monitor for five major plastic types and precursors, and the Polyglobe capacity database covering precursors, polymers, capacities, and availability forecasts. The KI Price Delivery Solution (PDS) extends the offering via an API that programmatically delivers over 170 price types for automated integration into customer workflows. Additional distribution formats include the K-AKTUELL trade fair newspaper, the K-PROFI täglich daily magazine, the KI Industry Talk webinar series, and an English-language companion site, PIEWeb. Tools such as the Chart-Generator, Excel-Generator, and a customizable "Meine Preise" interface support buyer-side analysis and procurement decision-making.

KI monetizes primarily through annual and multi-year subscriptions, with entry-level pricing at EUR 99/month on an annual commitment and a 7-day free trial. The recurring subscription model, combined with the API-based PDS offering, targets both individual industry professionals and enterprise buyers seeking structured polymer pricing intelligence. The company's value proposition centers on consolidating daily news, multi-decade pricing history, capacity intelligence, and analytical tools into a single subscription, positioning KI as a one-stop business information platform for the DACH plastics value chain.

Name

kunststoff information verlagsgesellschaft mbh

Legal name

Kunststoff Information GmbH

Website

https://kiweb.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kunststoff Information Verlagsgesellschaft mbH is a privately held German B2B media company, founded in 1970, that provides subscription-based news, polymer pricing data, and capacity intelligence to plastics industry executives across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plastics industry business intelligence and market data services

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ)

Keywords

• Plastics industry news
• Polymer pricing data
• Market intelligence services
• Industry information portal
• Subscription business media

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Homburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. KI Subscription: Annual or multi-year subscriptions providing access to the KIWeb online portal, weekly print newsletter, daily news updates, polymer pricing data, analysis tools, and online archive. Subscriptions are the primary revenue stream for this B2B media company serving the plastics industry.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kunststoff Information Verlagsgesellschaft mbH publishes a subscription-based B2B business intelligence service for the plastics industry, centered on the KIWeb online portal that delivers daily industry news, European and global polymer contract and spot prices, raw material and capacity data, market reports, and analytical tools. Offerings are bundled under an annual subscription (KI Abonnement), supplemented by dedicated databases (Polyglobe, Spotpreis-Monitor, Polymerpreis-Forecasts), the Plastixx price index, an API product (KI Price Delivery Solution/PDS), a weekly print newsletter, the KI Industry Talk webinar series, and trade publications K-AKTUELL and K-PROFI täglich.

Product overview

KI – Kunststoff Information is a business intelligence platform for the plastics industry, operating as a unified portal-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is the KI Web Portal (KIWeb.de) providing daily news, polymer prices, and market analysis. Premium modules include the Polymerpreis-Forecasts for price predictions, Spotpreis-Monitor for weekly spot pricing, Polyglobe for capacity intelligence, and the KI Price Delivery Solution (PDS) API for automated price data delivery. Additional offerings encompass the KI Industry Talk webinar series, the Plastixx price index, and print publications K-AKTUELL and K-PROFI täglich. The service is delivered via annual subscription with tiered access levels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KI Web: Online portal providing access to daily news, price data, and market reports for the plastics industry
• Plastixx
• Polyglobe
• KI Price Delivery Solution (PDS)
• KI Industry Talk
• K-AKTUELL
• K-PROFI täglich

Products and services

• KIWeb Online Portal Main online portal providing daily plastics industry news, European and international polymer contract and spot prices, raw material capacities, market and application reports, analysis tools (chart generator, Excel export), and online archive access for plastics industry decision-makers.
• KI Abonnement (KI Subscription) Annual or multi-year subscription providing access to the KIWeb online portal, weekly print newsletter, daily news updates, polymer pricing data, analysis tools, and the online archive for executives and decision-makers in the plastics industry.
• Polymerpreis-Forecasts Predictive price forecasts for ethylene and propylene, available exclusively to KI subscribers, providing forward-looking polymer pricing intelligence for procurement and planning decisions.
• Spotpreis-Monitor Weekly-updated spot prices for the five most important plastic types and precursor materials in spot trading, providing an early indication of price trends for plastics market participants.
• Polyglobe Capacity Database Daily-updated online database covering current and projected capacities, availability information, and forecasts for products, precursors, and polymers — used by subscribers for market and competitive intelligence.
• KI Price Delivery Solution (PDS)

Quantifiable outcome

• KI zählt in Deutschland zu den erfolgreichsten Medien für die Kunststoffindustrie
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PolyglobecoreTechnology or IntegrationPolyglobe is featured as a capacity database integration, providing tagesaktuelle (daily updated) online database for capacities, availabilities, and forecasts for products, precursors, and polymers in the market and competitive intelligence space.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ChemOrbis: Online plastics marketplace and pricing intelligence platform serving European and global polymer buyers and sellers; comparable to KI in providing market prices, news, and analysis to plastics industry decision-makers.
• Argus Media: Global commodity pricing and market intelligence publisher with dedicated polymers and petrochemicals coverage; competes with KI on polymer price reporting, market reports, and weekly plastics industry intelligence.
• Tecnon OrbiChem: Specialist consulting and subscription intelligence provider for petrochemicals and polymers; directly comparable to KI in offering chain analysis, market reports, and capacity data for the plastics industry.
• Polymerupdate: Daily polymer pricing and news service targeting Asia and globally; overlaps with KI on polymer spot/contract prices and news publishing, though with a different geographic orientation.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights (Platts): Major commodity pricing benchmark and intelligence service (formerly Platts) covering polymers; a direct competitor to KI's price-index and contract-price subscription products in the plastics space.
• ICIS: Independent commodity intelligence provider covering polymers, petrochemicals and plastics pricing; directly comparable to KI as a subscription-based business intelligence service for the plastics value chain with global reach.

Broad incumbents

• Chemical Market Analytics (by OPIS): Subscription platform providing pricing, analytics, and market outlooks for chemicals and plastics; larger incumbent with comparable subscription pricing-and-forecasts content that competes for the same procurement and strategy buyer.
• Wood Mackenzie: Global research and consultancy covering energy, chemicals and polymers at a macro level; broader incumbent that overlaps with KI on petrochemical/polymer market intelligence but sells to a wider portfolio of verticals.

Emerging players

• Plastics Information Europe (PIE) / PlasticsEurope: European plastics industry news and information service; PIEWeb is referenced as KI's English-language companion site, indicating an adjacent/partner positioning that competes for the same European plastics audience.

Regional players

• MRC (Messe Düsseldorf / K-Fair ecosystem trade press): Adjacent ecosystem player around the K plastics trade fair; themed trade-press and event ecosystem with which KI's K-AKTUELL Messezeitung product intersects, rather than a direct subscription intelligence peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kunststoff-information-verlagsgesellschaft-mbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about kunststoff information verlagsgesellschaft mbh