Glass packaging market to hit $60bn by 2019

The global glass packaging market will reach almost US$60 billion by 2019, according to a new report published by Transparency Market Research.

The market was valued at US$47.73 billion in 2012 and Transparency has predicted it will reach US$59.94 by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2013 to 2019. In terms of volume, global demand was 45.71 million tonnes in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.1% from 2013 to 2019.

The rise in global beer consumption is expected to be one of the primary factors driving the glass packaging market, particularly in dark-coloured glass bottles which protect the beer from UV light.

In addition, the growth of the healthcare industry and rising use of glass bottles for the storage of medicines, due to their sterility and re-usability, is expected to augment the demand for glass packaging over the next few years. However, Transparency says, the growing popularity of plastics and its increasing application scope for packaging is expected to hamper the growth of the market.

Growing consumer preference for glass packaging of food, beverages and chemicals is expected to open new opportunities for the growth of the market in the coming years.

Alcoholic beverages (excluding beer) were the largest application segment of the glass packaging market and accounted for more than 50% of the total demand in 2012. However, the consumption of glass in the packaging of beer is expected to witness the fastest growth due to increasing consumption in the Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, coupled with the preference towards glass as packaging material.

The Asia-Pacific was the largest market for glass packaging and accounted for more than 16.1 billion of the overall revenue in 2012. Growing consumption of beer and alcoholic beverages in countries such as India, China, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia is expected to boost the demand for glass as a packaging medium in these countries, Transparency says. Europe was the second largest market for glass packaging, accounting for over 13.34 million tonnes of overall demand in 2012.

The full report, ‘Glass Packaging Market for Food and Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013–2019’, is available here.