The global flexible packaging market is largely driven by the growth in its end-use industries. The penchant for consumption of packaged products such as packaged food & beverage, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals is resulting in its growth. Consumers' push for convenient packaging would result in the growth of the PP/PE pouches, polythene and polypropylene sachets, PE and PP bags, and other types of flexible packaging manufactured by PP/PE pouches, sachets and PE,PP bag manufacturers and other factories. These novel pack types with varying sizes and innovative closures are expected to gain momentum in the near future. This market consists of various stake holders, such as packaging manufacturers, traders, distributors, and raw material suppliers of food, beverage, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and flexible packaging products.
The global flexible market has made little strides in terms of value and regaining the volume lost during the economic slowdown. However, the market has grown considerably in the last few years and is expected to grow at a faster pace in the near future. Factors such as growing consumer preferences towards consuming convenient packaged food & beverages, personal care products, and pharmaceutical is helping this global packaging industry to grow. Increasing innovations in the packaging industry help to drive down the cost and new package types act as an important driver for the flexible packaging market.
The important materials used in flexible packaging market are polyethylene, polypropylene, BOPET, EVOH, polyamide, paper, aluminum, cellulosic, and PVC.
This raw material is converted into films that are further converted into pouch, sachet, and bags in which the products are packaged.
Demand in North America’s converted flexible packaging market has been underpinned by recovering economies and flexible packaging formats being used as alternatives to traditional rigid packaging. The North American converted flexible packaging market accounts for approaching 30% of global consumption with an annual spend of US$20.7 bln in 2013, reveals a new report from PCI Films Consulting. Almost 90% of sales in the region are concentrated in the US, with Canada and Mexico accounting for 7% and 5% respectively. After slowing in 2012 due to the economic downturn, demand for converted flexible packaging recovered to grow by around 4% by value in the US and Canada in 2013. However, the Mexican flexible packaging market slowed markedly during the year to around 1.5% due to uncertainties following the change of government and slowing GDP growth. Asia-Pacific has the highest market share and is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 7.1% during the period under review. Europe is growing with a CAGR of 3.9%, and is driven mainly by the East European markets. ROW is also expected to experience growth in flexible packaging market in the future. The CAGR for ROW is 6.0% from 2013 to 2018. The four most potential nations for flexible packaging market are India, China, Russia, and Brazil which are poised to exhibit the fastest growing trend.
In the flexible packaging market, pharmaceutical packaging is the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. Due to the increased awareness for public health, increasing product processing units, convenience packaging, and rising consumption of generic drugs, the pharmaceutical packaging industry is exhibiting strong gains. Following it, the food packaging is estimated to be the second fastest growing market in 2013, due to the rise in consumption of packaged food. Growing health concerns and knowledge about the nutrition value is driving the market for packed products to preserve the end-products.