Asia leading oriented film market

Biaxially-oriented film production capacity and product development is being led by Asian firms after a long period dominated by North American companies, according to a new study by PCI Films Consulting.

This assertion has been made in PCI Films’ latest report, North American Oriented Films Supply Outlook, which reports that North American oriented film producers accounted for just 8.5 percent of total world film extrusion capacity in 2012 for BOPP, BOPET and BOPA films.

PCI Films states that, for some time, North American producers have been slow to invest and are now unable to fulfill the region’s domestic needs. This has resulted in increasing volumes of North America’s demand for oriented films being met by imports.

It added that much of the domestic film extrusion capacity in North America is now of an age that requires significant investment in order to compete with the imports from low-cost producers in other markets.

This has resulted in some US firms withdrawing from the market, rather than making the necessary investment, while overseas companies are making investments to capitalize on the US market, such as Jindal Poly Films and the recent completion of its acquisition of ExxonMobil Chemical’s global BOPP films business.

Report author Simon King said: ‘The North American market should be an attractive market to do business in. 

‘It has a growing flexible packaging marketplace, which requires significant quantities of BOPP, BOPET and BOPA films, and there is no reason why a production facility in the US can’t be competitive. 

‘After all, two Indian and a Chinese company think the market is worthy of investment. North American producers should be showing their commitment to their customers and planning for the long-term.’

Read more about the global flexible packaging market in the next issue of Packprint World, to be published in August

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