Main PackNews Page Return to Topic Menu

PET Resins in Packaging

US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin demand is forecast to increase a robust 7.3 percent per annum to 6.3 billion pounds in the year 2002, valued at $4 billion. Advances will be driven by dynamic opportunities in carbonated soft drink, food and other beverage bottles, as well as in film and sheet products. However, photographic film and magnetic tape will continue to be low growth markets. PET resins' advantages over metal and glass competitors include light weight, high clarity and good barrier properties. High growth PET resins also have widespread consumer acceptance and exhibit a good environmental profile. These and other trends are presented in PET Resins, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm. Packaging will remain the leading PET resin market and will expand 8.3 percent annually to 5.4 billion pounds in the year 2002, driven by beverage applications, particularly in smaller-sized carbonated soft drink bottles, juice bottles, bottled water, iced tea and other beverage bottles. Maturity in the two-liter carbonated soft drink segment will be offset by the introduction of new soft drink sizes, such as the 2ounce bottle. Twenty-ounce and two-liter sized bottles will remain dominant, together accounting for nearly three-fourths of all PET carbonated soft drink bottle demand in unit terms. Food packaging markets for PET will increase 8.3 percent yearly to 1.4 billion pounds in the year 2002 based on growing bottle applications for salad dressings, sauces, jams and other foods. Slower growth is expected in crystallized PET (CPET) tray demand due to saturated frozen food uses, with better opportunities expected in amorphous PET (APET) used in food trays, clamshells and other containers. PET film advances will be the result of opportunities in snack food and other packaging applications such as popcorn bags, cheese and frozen foods. PET demand in audio-visual media will increase slowly due to saturated photographic film and magnetic tape uses, as well as heightened competition from new technologies such as digital photography and digital versatile discs (DVDs). PET demand in other markets will be paced by opportunities in motor vehicle and electrical and electronic applications. PET RESINS (published 2/98, 175 pages) is available for $3300 from The Freedonia Group, Inc., 767 Beta Drive, Cleveland, Ohio . For further details, please contact Corinne Gangloff by phone , fax or e-mail at . Full text is also available online through commercial database companies and the www.freedoniagroup.com Web site. If information in this release is used for an article, please attribute information from this news release to The Freedonia Group, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) and include, if possible, the price of the report. We would also appreciate (at your convenience) a copy of the article or publication in which we appear.