The demand for PET packaging is growing strongly in Eastern Europe and Asia, with demand in Eastern Europe predicted to reach 1 million tons by 2009 due to the expansion of applications in areas such as milk, food, and beer packaging, as well as growth in the use of PET in other small packaging applications. However, many negative factors have also affected the growth of PET packaging, such as the saturation of the packaging market for some soft drinks, PVC replacing PET as the packaging material for mineral water, and the high cost of resin potentially driving packaging bottles to reduce weight and size. It is expected that the application of PET packaging in the market will reach 83.5% in 2001, up from 80% in 2000, and the demand for PET packaging will reach 7.3 million tons in 2001.
The demand in the North American market will reach 2.4 million tons in 2000, accounting for approximately 37.4% of the global market share. By 2009, the demand in North America will reach 4.3 million tons, with the United States now a net importer of packaging PET resin, mainly imported from countries in the North American Free Trade Area. Mexico's demand will reach 800,000 tons by 2009. Eastern Europe's demand this year is 430,000 tons, which will reach 800,000 tons by 2005, but there is almost no investment in packaging PET resin in Eastern Europe. The market in some countries in Western Europe has already reached saturation, and the demand for packaging PET resin in Europe is expected to reach 3.5 million tons.
The growth in the Asia-Pacific market is mainly due to the economic recovery in China and Japan. China's current demand accounts for 5.4% of the global market. The demand in the Asia-Pacific region will reach 1.5 million tons this year and will reach 3.3 million tons by 2009. However, the existing stable production capacity in the region is already 2.8 million tons per year, with 27% of the products exported to other regions in 1999, and Europe absorbing 35% of the excess output from the Asia-Pacific region. Several large projects in the Middle East may turn the region from a net importer into an exporter. The growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region will still be higher than the world average, with several manufacturers controlling 40% of the production capacity in the Asia-Pacific market. China will be the focus of investment, while the market in Japan has yet to mature.
In summary, the demand for PET packaging will continue to grow, and the global market will reach 10 million tons by 2005, with the possibility of tight supply and high prices in the global market in 2003.
