The growth of the global market for plastic films and sheets

According to a recent study conducted by the specialist market research and consulting company Markets and Markets, the value of the global market for plastic films and sheets was 112.4 billion dollars in 2012 and it is predicted to record an annual growth rate of 4.4% over the five-year period 2013-2018. The main application sector is food packaging, where a 5.2% increase in sales is expected. Applications for agriculture are also on the increase. As regards the materials, even though PE has always been the number one choice for the production of plastic films and sheets, PP (particularly bi-oriented PP) is gradually gaining ground, especially in the packaging sector. In geographical terms, the emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific area seem to offer good prospects. China and India are, in fact, the main consumers of these products, whereas on the mature markets the growth in demand for standard products seems to be slowing down, in favour of demand for higher-performing products such as barrier and specialty films.