PET has been in use from quite a long time, but recent years showed a great surge in the demand worldwide. Easy availability of the PET material has a great emphasis on packaging due to high-quality production with reduced costs. According to a forecast from Smithers Pira, there will be a sustained annual growth of 4.6 per cent year-on-year basis in the next five years. It is a phenomenal increase from any scale. Other than established economies, transitional and emerging ones become prominent players in the marketplace.
Sustainable growth would take the demand for PET packaging material to new heights
The increasing importance of attractive packaging and personal hygiene are major reasons behind the increase. A large number of PET bottles for wines, spirits, pharmaceuticals, and dairy products are needed due to their reliability and sturdiness.
Market reports say that the worldwide market will show a gigantic increase to $60 Million from the current figures of 48 Million with an annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent approximate. With a sustained growth, it will open new horizons in the coming five years. Consumption in tones expected to reach 20 Million tonnes in the aforesaid period.
Reasons for such an overwhelming performance
Experts say that the trends were indicating a fantastic future in 2010 when PET bottles gained worldwide popularity due to easy handling, durability, convenience, and cost-effectiveness. Being incredibly lightweight they are ideal for on-the-go utilization. There were various reasons behind it:
1. Due to the popularity of bottled water, ready-to-drink beverages, soft drinks, and juices there was a need for good quality durable packaging material PET emerged as the best alternative.
2. Household cleaning products and pharmaceuticals replaced conventional packaging material with PET. It is a cost-effective and convenient alternative.
As per data, around 12.5 million tonnes of total 15.4 million tonnes were contributed by PET bottles. Bottles water contributed for 5.45 million tonnes and 5.17 million tonnes by carbonated water. Experts say that the timid performance by the latter is triggered by increasing awareness about the harmful effects of sweetened drinks.
Glass-Vs-Plastic
Among other important sectors in the packaging industry, non-food packaging demonstrated a phenomenal increase of 4.4 per cent and thermoforming packaging recorded 4.7 per cent. Thus, the fastest growth has been shown by packaged water.
Future seems to be further promising
Well-known brand owners and packaging experts are quite confident that the future is further promising for this industry. With new technology, it is possible for reducing the weight of PET bottles further. It will result in further cost-effective products. Since PET bottles share more than 80 per cent of the overall sales, it is going to be a great impact on the business. Experts predict that the bottled water is going to rock in the next five years with a consistent volume growth of 6% whereas pharmaceutical and other drinks are expected to touch the 5% mark.
Who will be the market drivers?
It is sure that the developing markets will steal the show irrespective of geography. In the last five years, Asia Pacific has left Western Europe and North America far behind. In fact, it has become the largest regional market in the aforesaid period. Global recession did not affect this region as badly as North America or Western Europe. Hence, the total share was 31% by the Asia Pacific in the last five years. Future trends indicate that it will show the same increase.
PET Consumption in Asia and other continents
PET is a versatile resin used for a wide variety of applications like food packaging, bottling, films and many more. PBT is another type of thermoplastic that is useful in electronic goods, electrical appliances, automotive parts and consumer products. There has been a phenomenal increase in the demand for PBT and PET in the last few years. Estimates show that from 2014 to 2019, there will be a steady growth of more than 7 per cent worldwide. These figures are based on the overall consumption of both types of resins. These calculations are based on Five Forces model of Porter that takes into account the current industry trends, value chain analysis, and the top players that contribute to the consumption.
Among various contributing factors for the significant increase in the consumption of PET and PBT, some are prominent ones. Increasing the use of industrial plastic in place of metal, the surge in the use of electrical and electronic applications, emerging economies, are to name a few. Replacement of synthetic PBT with bio-based PBT and reduction in halogen content are also other important drivers. Population growth, urbanization increase, the rise in consumption of FMCG are equally responsible for the growth. There was stagnancy in economies of North America and Europe, but the increase in Asian economy shifted the focus from developed countries to developing countries.
Companies that produce PET resin focus keenly on the expansion and trying to achieve a competitive edge by enhancing efficiency. Being a dynamic market, it is essential that customer handling takes paramount importance. All top players spent considerably on R&D and expansions in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply. Out of all marketplaces, Asia-Pacific emerges as one of the greatest driving force behind the increase of PET and PBT consumption.
1. China comes out to be the frontrunner in the consumption of both resins due to the rise in demand by automotive and electronic sectors.
2. India, Brazil, Germany are the other big players.
3. Asia-Pacific consumes 38% PET and 54% PBT of the overall consumption. They are quite impressive.
4. A lot of mergers, acquisitions and agreements happened in last few years making it a dynamic and vibrant marketplace.
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