The global market for rigid packaging adhesives was estimated to be worth $14.7 billion in 2016, according to a new report from Smithers Apex. The market is expected to reach $18.2 billion by 2021 driven by an overall compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% over the next five years.

Growth within the global packaging adhesives market is reportedly being fueled by an increase in the consumption of packaged food and consumer goods, mostly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East as these markets transition to a more western-style of consuming food and other products. Expansion forecasts for Asia in the second half of the decade is less than 2011-2015 growth rates, although it is still stronger than the moderate growth that is forecast for the mature economies of North America and Western Europe.

“Packaging is the largest application within the adhesive sector and continues to support the growing trend of consumerism, pre-packed food and other articles purchased in a packaged format,” said John Nelson, commissioning editor. “As urbanization worldwide continues to evolve, the habit of buying packaged goods in shops, supermarkets and convenience retail outlets will displace other means of obtaining goods, such as local markets.

“Although this modern way of purchasing and preparing food is well established in advanced economic regions―such as North America and Western Europe―the move towards packaged food and supermarket shopping is still evolving in many regions―such as Africa and the Middle East. This is driving the demand for packaging materials which in turn use packaging adhesives.”

The largest market by end-use applications is food, which continues to grow due to lifestyle and demographic changes. Smaller single packs in consumer food is on the rise due to changes in family structures, with the traditional nuclear family becoming a less frequent phenomena, and a corresponding increase in single-person households. The largest segment within this category is frozen and chilled food, which is estimated to be around $749 million of this entire market for 2017 and is forecast to grow to $1 billion by 2022.

Rising demand for smaller single packs is also driven by lifestyle changes and the desire for convenience, with the trend of consuming drinks and food on the go. This is beneficial for the adhesives segment as smaller packs require proportionally more adhesive to deliver the same volume of product. These gains are being partially countered however by industry trends toward economy and new technologies that allow a smaller volume of adhesive to deliver the same strength of bond in key packaging formats.

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