Protective Packaging Demand to Approach $6 Billion in 2016

Protective packaging demand in the US is projected to increase 5.0 percent per year to $5.9 billion in 2016, fueled by a rebound in manufacturing output, especially for durable goods, along with continued solid growth for Internet shopping.  These factors will necessitate heightened requirements for cost-effective packaging used in the protection of goods from shock, vibration, abrasion and other damaging effects of shipping and handling.  These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in Protective Packaging, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.  

The increasing popularity of Internet shopping will be one of the most important trends influencing protective packaging demand.  Products expected to benefit include protective mailers, air pillows and bubble packaging.  Mailers are valued as an alternative to boxes, providing reduced material and postage costs, source reduction and space savings.  Solid gains for air pillows will be the result of advantages over other void-fill materials in terms of cost and material use, and consumer preference for the product over traditional materials such as loose-fill.  Growing requirements for cost-effective, lightweight cushioning will propel gains for bubble packaging, which also offers greater ease of use than alternatives such as foam-in-place polyurethane. 

Recovery in the manufacturing sector, particularly a substantial improvement in durable goods output, will fuel accelerated gains for protective packaging, especially foam products and molded pulp.  Opportunities for paperboard protectors will be assisted by healthy growth for warehouse clubs and home center stores, boosting demand for edge protection products, which are used by these establishments to unitize and stack pallets. 

Insulated shipping containers will be one of the fastest growing protective packaging product types as a result of growing cold chain requirements in the pharmaceutical and life science industries, as well as rising online sales of perishable foods.  Pharmaceutical uses will be driven by rapidly expanding markets for biotechnology drugs and vaccines, which are often temperature-sensitive.

Green packaging’s increased prominence will also propel gains for molded pulp, paper fill, biodegradable loose-fill, and automated onsite bubble packaging systems, among others.  Advantages of molded pulp and biodegradable loose-fill include ease of disposal and more stable pricing than petroleum-based plastics. 

The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.