Plastics Create Huge Concern for Glass Packaging Market

27-Jul-07

Sales of Glass Packaging Market will reach US$36.5 bln by 2010, exhibiting a meager growth rate. This performance will be attributed to performance benefits and technological innovations in plastics. The strongest threat to the glass packaging industry is posed by the plastic industry, which has seen rapid advancements in recent years. Plastic packaging industry is expected to far outpace not only glass, but other packaging materials also. The high growth has been anticipated mainly on account of the technological advancements in the industry, coupled with above-average performance in the past and the performance benefits of the material. The usage of plastic is most evident in the packaging market in general, and in particular the food and beverage segments. The glass industry in the developed and mature markets represents a premium and superior quality packaging material image, as compared to the other packaging materials. Prestige drinks such as champagne, beer and other fizz drinks, traditionally marketed in glass bottles are important for maintaining the brand image and quality consciousness of the consumer. In addition, glass containers can be fully recycled and reused and unlike their plastic counterparts, can be easily sorted for recycling on the basis of different colors and shapes. Although Europe retains the largest chunk of over 42% of the glass packaging demand, Asia-Pacific market is expected to post strong results in the coming years, mostly due to promising performance from the Chinese market. Increasing per capita and household incomes are expected to bolster the growth of indigenous demand for consumer products, including glass markets. Consumer beverage represents the largest end-use segment for the global glass packaging market, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. In 2006, the end-use accounted for a whopping 75% of the total world consumption. The segment is also the fastest growing, with a projected CAGR of 2.9% in value terms and 2.6% in volume terms. Food represents the second largest end-use market, with consumption of US$6.7 billion or 75.2 billion units, in 2006. Leading players in the worldwide glass packaging market include ACI Glass Packaging, Anchor Glass Container, Anadolu Cam Sanayii A.S., Ardagh Glass, Gerresheimer Group, Koa Glass Co., Ltd., Owens-Illinois, Saint Gobain, and Toyo Seikan Kaisha.