The packaging sector – Data 2019 (1)

Based on the first available evaluations, the packaging sector (closely linked to the trend of manufacturing activity) should register a turnover for 2019 of +1%, reaching over € 33.5 billion.

Foreign trade is still on the up: although down compared to 2018, the value of exports is expected to grow by approximately 2.3%. Still in terms of  value, imports are up by around 5%. Despite the drop compared to 2018, the balance of trade continues to remain positive, reaching 1.2 billion euros. 

As regards the raw material price averages used to produce packaging, in 2019 all materials put in a drop: -6% for virgin aluminium, about -13% for virgin raw material destined for the production of corrugated cardboard,-1% for paper destined for the production of bags or to produce wraps. The prices of paperboard used to produce cartons are down by 0.5%.

As for plastics (virgin plastic), a drop in prices of all the polymers used to produce packaging is seen: in 2019, the price of PET registered a drop of 14.7%, polystyrene  a drop of 13% and PVC was down 8%. The prices of other polymers have also dropped.

The only material to register an increase in prices is wood.

Recycled raw material price trends follow those of the virgin raw materials, showing generalized downturns on the prices of all materials.

Analysing the sector from a quantitative point of view, 2019 should show a growth trend lower than that of the previous years: 1%, with an empty packaging production of over 16.8 billion tons. As can be seen from the analysis relating to Italian manufacturing activity reported in the previous pages, in 2019 Italian industry suffered a slowdown, a phenomenon that has also inevitably affected the packaging sector, which saw a significant reduction in production. 

A continued upturn is assumed, but certainly not at the pace of recent years.

One only has to look at the data showing the trend of foreign trade to confirm this assumption.

According to the analysis of the first nine months of the year (latest available data), exports should settle around 1.2%, while imports should grow by 3.7%.

In the two-year period 2020-21, production in terms of weight should have grown by an average 2% per year, bringing the quantity of empty packaging produced in Italy to over 17.5 billion tons.

Table 1. Balance of the empty packaging sector in Italy.

Fonte/Source: Imballaggio in cifre

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