World Cap and closure sales to reach $32 billion in 2011

Caps are set to go up and up. By 2011, global food and non-food demand will grow by 4.7 percent per year to $32 billion. Accelerating economic growth and rising personal incomes are expected to push sales to 1.4 trillion units.

Beverages will remain the dominant market for caps and closures, accounting for almost 65 percent of unit demand in 2011. In the beverage sector, strongest gains are expected in the bottled-water segment, with nontraditional products such as sports drinks and flavored milk also performing favorably.

Above-average gains are expected in Asia. China will lead the way, accounting for over one-fourth of projected unit gains in global cap and closure demand through 2011. However, due to relatively low prices, it will account for only 16 percent of value gains. India will also perform strongly.

Market shift

Plastic closures will continue to supplant traditional metal and (increasingly) cork types, supported by technological advances and the ongoing shift from glass to plastic and paperboard in consumer packaging applications such as soft drinks. The US, which accounts for almost one-fourth of global cap and closure value demand, also enjoys generally favorable prospects (fueled by a continued shift in the product mix toward value-added configurations). Western Europe and Japan will see slower growth, hindered by mature markets and stagnant population growth.

Unit gains will continue to be driven by the penetration of closure-intensive

plastic packaging at the expense of traditionally closureless packaging media such as gabletop and aseptic drink cartons and plastic pouches. Limiting growth will be heightened competition from packaging formats that do not use closures, such as stand-up pouches. Sales revenues will be fueled by a shift in the product mix in favor of value-added closure types that provide increased product safety, user convenience and/or shelf appeal. Examples include tamper-evident, child-resistant and dispensing types.