Plastics dominates global caps & closures market projected to grow at CAGR of 4% till 2018

The primary factor driving the growth of caps & closures market is their direct relation growing to the downstream industries such as food & beverage, personal & home care, pharmaceutical, and industrial chemicals. A report by MarketsandMarkets estimates the market size of the caps & closures market in terms of value and volume. Food, beverage, personal & home care products, pharmaceutical, and industrial chemical industries are the end-user applications for caps & closures. In terms of geography, the report is segmented into Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World (ROW).The caps & closures market is broadly divided on the basis of raw materials used, such as plastics, metals, and others. With the increasing penchant for user-friendliness, the market is likely to witness robust growth in the years ahead. Caps & closures is an imperative segment of the packaging industry as it aids in protecting and extending the shelf-life of end-products. In terms of end-use, beverages remain the leading market for caps & closures. The pharmaceutical market is set to exhibit the strongest unit volume increases, followed by personal & household care products. Functional & light weight closures such as child-resistant, tamper evident, and dispensing caps which offer efficient dosing, will stimulate the growth in these markets. On the other hand, the growing usage of simplified packaging formats without closures and blister packaging will act as key restraints hindering the growth of the market. The key industry players are increasing their business presence by launching novel caps for different pack types and by mergers and acquisitions in latent markets. Top six players in the caps & closures industry held a market share of around 17.5% signifying participation of a large number of players in this market. This fragmented industry structure is primarily due to the availability of number of pack types, sizes and raw materials used for caps & closures. The global caps & closures market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.0% from 2013 to 2018 MarketsandMarkets. Plastics dominated the caps & closures market by raw material and this segment is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR from 2013 to 2018. Polypropylene and polyethylene are the important plastic resins used for making wide variety of caps. Metal caps & closures are projected to grow at slower pace through 2018. Penetration of metal caps is still high in the developing countries and these are expected to witness sluggish growth in the years ahead due to the adoption of plastic closures. Other materials used for caps & closures are glass, elastomers, rubber, cork, paperboard, etc. which together account for a very low share and are expected to grow at a meager pace in the future. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the biggest share both in terms of value as well as volume and continues to hold that position due to its thriving end-user industries. Latin American & the Middle East & African countries are also steaming up at a fast pace. Factors such as increase in the income levels, trend towards urbanization, move towards smaller pack sizes, etc. will boost the demand for caps & closures. The European & North American markets are expected to show a modest growth trend, owing mainly to the saturated end-use markets in the region. East European nations are expected to show healthy growth in the coming years.