In general, economies with a higher per capita GDP have a greater demand for packaging films. Packaging films are used by food and consumer products manufacturers primarily to preserve texture, flavor, hygiene, convenience and safety of consumer products such as foods, medicine, tobacco products and cosmetics. Packaging films encompass most clear flexible films based on petrochemical-based polymers.
China
Industrial growth is a key driver of demand for coated and laminated materials. In China, increasing demand during the past 3-5 years has been driven by:
- International consumer goods companies relocating operations to mainland China;
- Concerted efforts by the Government to improve safety, hygiene and sanitation in consumer products in order to reduce contamination and spoilage;
- Growth in consumer incomes in China has led consumers to demand more convenience (individual packaged snacks) and ready-made foods in attractive packaging;
- Concern over protection from product tampering and counterfeiting.
While the need for packaging film manufacturers have expanded the number of producers in mainland China, the industry on the whole is concentrated among a few qualified players with many scattered smaller producers with limited capacity competing for the lower-level, less-technical films. Initial capital requirements are significant to produce higher-quality coated films; this factor combined with increasingly demanding customer specs and technological advances are eliminating many smaller players in the industry.
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