Rising demand from APAC to drive the global plastic films market until 2020

The global plastic films market is expected to cross US$125 bln by 2020, says Technavio. “APAC is expected to have the highest growth among all the other regions in the forecast period. APAC is expected to witness an increase in demand for plastic stretch and shrink films from the packaging and manufacturing industries. The region is witnessing a transition from rigid packaging to flexible packaging. China was the leading country in APAC, followed by India,” said Sharan Raj, one of Technavio’s lead analysts for packaging research, adding, "However, there is also a huge demand for agriculture plastic films in APAC because of the presence of highly cultivated areas, including India, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Major agricultural film customers are spread across the whole farm produce value chain, from crop growers to processors and retailers from the agricultural and horticultural sectors." The global plastic films market by PE was valued at US$68.96 bln in 2015. The polyethylene (PE) segment is predicted to experience the moderate growth during the forecast period. Consumers are demanding different types of packaging, and with the increased consumption of food and beverage products, household care products, and demand for plastic as a packaging material is driving the global polyethylene film market. The market is witnessing innovative plastic films options like blown films and cast films. There is also increased demand from end-users, and a rise in living standards. Polyethylene is used in the manufacture of various grades of plastics bags and films, which are used for consumer and industrial purposes. It is used for packaging food and non-food items such as personal care and healthcare products because it has high tensile strength and is flexible. Because of these characteristics, polyethylene is considered to be an ideal material for the packaging industry. The global plastic films market by BOPP was valued at US$17.51 bln in 2015. The biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) segment will experience the highest growth among all the other segments during the forecast period. BOPP is one of the most important plastic polymers. Biaxially-oriented refers to the property of the film, which allows it to stretch in two different directions. Orientation causes many changes in film like high stiffness, lustrousness, and lower elongation, which means that polypropylene can be prepared using almost all thermoplastic methods, including injection molding and extrusion blow-molding. The global plastic films market by BOPET was valued at US$10.33 bln in 2015. Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) is a common plastic polymer resin of polyester family. It is easy to mold in any form and is the most preferable material used by packaging vendors, especially in food and beverages industry, cosmetic industry, and other household care packaging vendors. BOPET films are used for several applications in different forms for application areas such as packaging, industrial specialty, electrical and electronic, imaging and graphic.