Philip Chadwick / PackagingNews

Flexibles sector enjoying a strong recovery,
report claims

The flexible packaging market is on the up with the converted materials sector recovering strongly in value terms in 2010, according to a report.

PCI Films Consulting’s report, The European Flexible Packaging Market 2011, also found that Amcor has become the dominant force in the market, accounting for nearly a quarter of all European flexible packaging sales.

The conveted flexible packaging market is worth €11bn, equivalent to 45.3bn square metres. Sales increased by 4.7% overall, althought the report said that much of the value growth was down to raw material and energy cost increases.

The 400 page publication reports that nearly all national markets showed growth with Eastern Europe edging ahead, average a 6.2% sales increase. Russian sales performed strongly, with a near double digit growth. The study also found that confectionery last year consumed 5.5bn square metres of flexible packaging.

“Europe’s flexible packaging market continues to grow in spite of the serious economic and financial upheavals currently affecting European economies,” said the study’s author Paul Gaster. “Demand is underpinned by the strongly non-cyclical nature of flexible packaging’s principal end-use markets – food, pharmaceuticals and pet food.”