World Caps & Closures Demand to Reach Nearly $26 Billion in 2009

Accelerating economic growth and rising personal incomes will support development of the various consumer nondurable goods markets, especially in the world's emerging economies, with closures and other packaging materials among the primary beneficiaries.

28/09/05 Global demand for caps and closures is forecast to expand at an annual pace of 4.8 percent through 2009 to $25.9 billion, representing 1.4 trillion units.

Accelerating economic growth and rising personal incomes will support development of the various consumer nondurable goods markets, especially in the world's emerging economies, with closures and other packaging materials among the primary beneficiaries. 

Cap and closure sales will also benefit from their increased use in conjunction with traditionally closureless packaging media such as gabletop and aseptic drink cartons and plastic pouches, although inroads by metal drink cans, flexible packaging and multiserving plastic bottles will limit potential gains. 

Plastic closures will continue to supplant traditional metal and (increasingly) cork types, supported by technological advances and the ongoing shift from glass to plastic  and paperboard in consumer packaging applications such as soft drinks and pharmaceuticals. These and other trends are presented in "World Caps & Closures," a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.

Above-average gains are expected in the world's emerging markets, especially those in Asia.  China will lead the way through 2009, surpassing the US as the largest closure market in the world in unit terms.  The US, which accounts for almost one-fourth of global caps and closures value demand, also enjoys generally favorable prospects (fueled by a continued shift in the product mix toward value-added configurations), while the mature markets of Western Europe and Japan will see slower growth.

Beverages will remain the dominant end use market for caps and closures, accounting for almost two-thirds of unit demand in 2009.  Within the beverage sector, strongest gains are expected in nontraditional products such as sports drinks and flavored milk.  Healthy growth is also anticipated in consumer chemical markets such as cosmetics, toiletries and household cleaners, which are enjoying rapid growth and becoming more intensive users of packaging in the developing world.