Recent Pira International Studies: Packaging opportunities, active packaging and functional and barrier coatings

Lucrative Packaging Opportunities to be found in the Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is becoming an attractive investment opportunity for packaging material suppliers and converters, suppliers of related machinery and equipment as well as other peripheral products and services, according to Pira International.

Consumption of packaging material in MENA in 2008 amounted to 19.1 million tonnes, worth $27.5 billion. According to the report, this is expected to grow by almost 4% in 2009 and on average by just over 5% annually to reach a total of 25.5 million tonnes by 2014, worth about $37 billion at 2008 prices. Qatar, Libya and Egypt will show the highest growth over the medium term, though from relatively low bases in the case of Qatar and Libya. Tunisia is expected to show the slowest medium term growth at just over 3% annually.

Growth Opportunities in Active and Modified Atmosphere Packaging

The active and modified atmosphere packaging market is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2009-14 of 7.5% and is forecast to reach close to $3.5 billion in 2014, according to a new study by Pira International.

Active packaging is packaging that performs an active function after the contents are packaged by interacting with the contents to deliver improvements in quality, shelf life, safety and usability. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is used to prolong the shelf life of processed or fresh food by changing the composition of the atmosphere surrounding the food in the package. MAP is used for different products, so the atmosphere in the package depends on the product type, the temperature and the packaging materials.

Functional and Barrier Coatings for Paper and Board to be Worth $4,561 million in 2014

The global market for functional and barrier coatings for paper and board was valued at $3,778 million in 2007, growing at 3.1% and is expected to reach $4,561 million by 2014. Within this, opportunities are emerging in a number of high-growth regions and end use sectors, according to a major new study by Pira International.

Functional and barrier coatings cover a broad spectrum of materials that are coated onto paper and board to provide a barrier of some sort to protect the materials inside, and/or to enable the substrate to act as a suitable package for its contents. Although over one third of this market lies in liquid packaging, the market is much broader in scope and application, covering packaging for a wide range of food stuffs; pharmaceutical and medical items; cosmetics; and dry goods such as paper itself (eg ream wrap). The barrier requirements cover such materials as water and water vapour; oil and grease; oxygen and aroma.