Flexible Packaging Demand to Increase

Excerpts from Converting Magazine
World demand for converted flexible packaging is forecast to increase 3.5 % annually to over 19 million metric tons in 2013. Factors contributing to this rising demand will include growth in food and beverage production, which represents the largest market by far. In addition, cost, performance and source reduction advantages, will continue to favor flexible packaging products over their rigid counterparts.
Gains will be limited by the mature state of the packaging industry in developed areas such as the US, Western Europe and Japan, where the main markets for flexible packaging but are well-established.
The fastest increases will occur in the world's developing regions. Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Africa/Mideast region will all outpace the global average.
Some of the best gains are expected in China, which has surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest converted flexible packaging market (behind the US); and India, which will benefit from strong growth in domestic output and consumer product markets. The fastest world growth (5.2%/year) is forecast for the Asia - Pacific region. Rapid gains are also expected in Russia and Indonesia, which will benefit from greater investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, resulting in improved product quality.
Plastic films, which account for almost three-quarters of global converted flexible packaging material demand, will continue to make inroads at the expense of paper and aluminum foil.