The European plastics caps and closures market amounted to 217 billion units in 2007, representing a value of €215 bln according to AMI. Total production of plastics caps and closures has grown at a rate of around 6% pa over the past three years. However, production of one-piece closures has expanded at a rate of 9% pa over the same period and this style now accounts for 64% of the standard beverage closure market. One-piece closures accounted for 55% of this market sector in 2004. The market for one piece closure will grow by 4% in the 2007-2012 period in Europe, as per this report by Applied Market Information, with sports drinks and juice-based drinks driving growth along with the growing market penetration of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) due to its lightweight. The advent of heat stable PET, clarified PP and multilayer containers is opening up new markets to plastic closures. Demand will be driven by increased penetration of PET bottles in dairy applications and by growing substitution of glass packaging by plastic containers in table top sauces, baby food, cooking sauces, dehydrated and snack products. One-piece closures are dominating the European food and beverage closure production market fuelled by cost reduction and light weighting initiatives. Light weight closures are increasingly being used by beverage manufacturers in response to increasing demands from customers to cut raw material costs. HDPE one-piece closures now account for 64% of all standard beverage closures in 2007 in Europe- an increase of 9% as compared to 2004 figures.
Custom closures, including pouch spouts and non-standard diameter flat caps can provide manufacturers with added value. This segment is predicted to grow because of a strong demand for sports closures. Following the introduction of the plastic cork for glass bottles the market for plastic beer closures is bound to grow, mainly in Eastern Europe . Plastic closure for the liquid food segment which constitutes 18% of the end use of closure applications in Europe in 2007 is expected to grow well. AMI predicts that the countries of Eastern Europe will see closure consumption grow at around 8% pa to 2012 against a 3% rate in the more mature West Europe markets. Western European producers will focus more on non-standard and sports designs. Innovation and a sustainable differential advantage will lie at the centre of plastic closure production over the next five years with the focus on functionality, convenience and modernity.

Custom closures, including non-standard diameters, sports caps and carton mechanisms, continue to present the greatest opportunity to add value. European closure producers consumed 770,000 tons of polymer during 2007 according to Canadean. PP accounted for 55% of this volume, with PE and PE/EVA based resins accounting for 44%. One-piece closure growth has helped PE/EVA gain a five percentage point share on PP since 2004. For the same reason, it predicts PE will see 5% pa growth to 2012 against a 2% rate for PP. Ongoing growth in the beverage sector will call for an additional 220 bln caps and closures over the next five years, according to a new study from UK beverage industry analyst Canadean, with plastics closures accounting for the bulk of this new demand. Beverage closure demand is expanding strongly primarily due to expansion of packaged beverage consumption in large emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Brazil. Even the more established markets of Western Europe and North America, where packaged beverage consumption is more static, are seeing new product development and intense competition between products and brands. This, coupled with consumer demand for convenience packs, environmental and legislative developments and new technologies, is changing the shape of the caps and closures sector.
Highest growth over the next five years is expected in the relatively new and dynamic beverage categories such as drinking yogurt, flavoured milk, energy drinks and soy-milk. However, in volume terms, packaged water and beer will account for the majority of additional demand; these two sectors together will account for more than 50% of total incremental closure demand by 2012. Plastic closures will account for the vast majority of the additional closure demand due in part to their better technical versatility and agility as well as the general increase in market shares of plastic and carton-based beverage packaging. As a result, the overall share of plastic screw caps within the beverage sector is expected to rise from around 34% in 2007 to 37% by 2012. Sports caps are expected to double their share from 2% to 4% over the same period, while the share of metal closures such as steel crowns and aluminium ROPP caps is expected to decline slightly.
Key trends in the beverage sector include a shift to larger pack sizes in some categories, such as beer and carbonates, which is impacting on the size and type of closure used. Meanwhile, in the still drinks, packaged water and sports drinks categories, where �on-the-go' consumption is a primary driver of demand, smaller individual pack sizes are becoming more common. There is also an ongoing increase in the use of closures for liquid cartons in the juice, nectars and liquid milk categories, says Canadean.
Other critical market dynamics include a move towards lighter weight closures, which contribute to meeting beverage companies' environmental targets and save material and energy cost. The report also identifies the growth in resealable �on-the-go� packs, greater use of wide-mouth closures, one-step opening systems for cartons and re-sealable can end closures as key areas of closure development.