Beer drinkers raise prospects for glass

Growing consumption of beer and other alcoholic beverages in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, will help fuel a 3.4 per cent compound average growth rate (CAGR) in the glass packaging market to 2019, a new market survey predicts.

The report, “Glass Packaging Market for Food and Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages” by US analyst group Transparency Market Research, also suggests growing demand for glass containers in the healthcare sector will help augment demand for glass packaging in coming years.

The report values the global market for glass packaging at $US47.43 billion ($A50.42 billion) in 2012 and projects it will reach $US59.94 billion by 2019 on the back.

In terms of volume, global demand was 45.71 million tons in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.1 per cent from 2013 to 2019.

While a cooler-than-average summer was believed to have contributed to a decline in beer sales in Australia last year, the report says this is expected to turn around.

”Rise in global consumption of beer is expected to be one of the primary factors driving the glass packaging market,” Transparency said.

“Growing consumption of beer and alcoholic beverages in countries such as India, China, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia are expected to boost the demand for glass as a packaging medium in these countries.”

Asia Pacific was the largest market for glass packaging and accounted for over $US16.1 billion of the overall revenue in 2012. Europe was the second largest market for glass packaging accounting for over 13.34 million tons of overall demand in 2012.

The report also noted the growth of the healthcare industry and rising use of glass bottles for storage of medicines due to its sterility and reusability as a significant growth area for glass packaging.

On a cautious note, however, it said the growing popularity of plastic and its increasing use in traditional glass packaging applications could hamper the growth of the market.