Overview

Polymer foams utilized for packaging applications are termed as packaging foam. The market of packaging foam is expected to undergo crucial changes during the forecast period, largely driven by environment-friendly policies framed by both developed and developing economies.

According to Infoholic Research, the market for packaging foam would reach $22.43 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period 2019–2025, owing to consistently increasing end-user consumption across geographies amid regulatory pull aimed at controlling the pollution from plastic wastage.

Research Methodology:

The packaging foam market has been analyzed by utilizing the optimum combination of secondary sources and in-house methodology, along with an irreplaceable blend of primary insights. The real-time assessment of the market is an integral part of our market sizing and forecasting methodology. Our industry experts and panel of primary participants have helped in compiling relevant aspects with realistic parametric estimations for a comprehensive study. The participation share of different categories of primary participants is given below:

Key Market Insights

Packaging foam is one of the most regulated markets, especially in food, medical, and personal care industries. The direct contact applications have more regulations than the protection packaging areas where mechanical shock absorption becomes key property. The regulations aimed at reducing wastage and increasing recycling are expected to have a direct impact on the packaging foam application market, which is expected to change the market dynamics. Few of the key regulations that are expected to impact the packaging foam market include circular economy regulations in the European Union, expanded polystyrene (EPS) ban legislation in few states of the US, and China’s EPS re-use policy & import ban on contaminated waste plastic. While most of these regulations are guided at EPS, some of these also have implications on the polyurethane & polyolefins packaging foam via recycling push. Even the EPS market is expected to grow slightly during the forecast period, with some setbacks in Europe and North American regions only.

The materials which on the face of it appear in the competition to replace the polymer foam do not possess the effective barrier properties and cost advantage as polymer foam does. This will result in the limited impact of regulations on the market, thereby enabling the overall growth for the packaging foam market. As per Infoholic Research, the packaging foam market is expected to grow to $22.43 billion by 2025, with high demand growth coming from Asia Pacific.

China leads the global market for packaging foam, which not only caters to the domestic market but also to the large international market via large manufacturing production being shipped out of the country. Further, the exploding online food delivery platforms are further enabling the growth of the packaging foam market, even after accounting for re-use policy implementation by the local government. Growing electrical & electronic industry, with Chinese manufacturing sources, is further expected to boost the country’s market for packaging foam. Further, the developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and Middle East with a rapidly growing fast food market and improving penetration of industrial supply chains are expected to lead the global market for packaging foam.

Among application segments, the market dominance of the top three applications is expected to continue accounting for around two-third of global demand, although the share of flexible packaging foam is expected to increase with EPS facing the challenges against uninhibited growth of polyurethane and polyolefins packaging foams.

The study of the packaging foam market provides the market size information and market trends along with the factors and parameters impacting it in both the short- and long-term. The study also covers the competitive scenario of the market, major players with their branding strategies, and differentiating factors among others. The study ensures a 360° view, bringing out the complete key insights of the competitive industry. These insights are intended to help the business decision-makers to make better business plans and informed decisions for the future growth. In addition, the study helps venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and take informed decisions.

The companies are competing with each other in a very fragmented market of packaging foam, wherein no company can claim to offer products for all application areas. Most of the prominent players who offer packaging foam are Atlas Roofing Corporation, Armacell, BASF SE, Borealis AG, Dart Containers Corporation, FoamPartner Group, JSP, Kaneka Corporation, Sealed Air, Wisconsin Foam Products, and Zotefoams.

Report Scope:

• Type
  • Flexible
  • Rigid
• Materials
  • Polystyrene
  • Polyurethane
    • Polyether Polyurethane
    • Polyester Polyurethane
  • Polyolefins
    • Expanded Polyolefins
    • Cross-linked Polyolefins
  • Others (such as polyvinyl chloride)
• End-users
  • Food & Beverages
  • Automotive
  • Electrical & Electronics
  • Consumer Durables
  • Logistics
  • Medical & Personal Care
  • Others
• Geographies
  • Asia Pacific
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • Middle East & Africa

Industry outlook: market trends and drivers, restraints, and opportunities

1. Executive Summary
   1. Regulatory Changes Curtailing Demand Growth
   2. Necessity Driven Trends Shaping Segmental Mix
2. Market Positioning
   1. Industry Snapshot
      1. Industry Overview
      2. Key Trends
   2. Related Markets
3. Market Outlook
   1. Introduction
   2. Value Chain Analysis
   3. Market Segmentation
4. Market Characteristics
   1. PESTLE Analysis
   2. Porter’s Five Force Analysis
   3. Market Dynamics
      1. Drivers
         1. Growing incomes & decreasing pricing increasing affordability, thus pushing market growth
         2. Developing and underdeveloped markets to drive the demand via increased inclusion and improving industrialization
         3. Regulatory push for recycled content paving the way for premium market growth
      2. Restraints
         1. Wastage checking measures impacting adversely to packaging foam in food & consumer durables
         2. Limited post-consumer waste collection infrastructure and nascent technology increasing recycling cost
      3. Opportunities       
         1. Large potential market in developing & underdeveloped markets             
         2. Huge demand created by internet platforms and increasing internet penetration
         3. Opportunities for biodegradable & recyclable polymer materials in Europe & the US
      4. DRO – Impact Analysis
   4. Patent Analysis
5. Packaging Foam Market, By Type
   1. Overview
   2. Flexible Foam
   3. Rigid Foam
6. Packaging Foam Market, By Material
   1. Overview
   2. Polystyrene Foam
   3. Polyurethane Foam
      1. Polyether Polyurethane Foam
      2. Polyester Polyurethane Foam
   4. Polyolefins Foam
      1. Expanded Polyolefins Foam
      2. Cross-linked Polyolefins Foam
7. Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
   1. Overview
   2. Food & Beverage
   3. Automotive
   4. Electrical & Electronics
   5. Consumer Durables
   6. Logistics
   7. Medical & Personal Care
8. Packaging Foam Market, By Geography
   1. Overview
   2. Asia Pacific
      1. Asia Pacific Packaging Foam Market, By Country
      2. Asia Pacific Packaging Foam Market, By Type
      3. Asia Pacific Packaging Foam Market, By Material
      4. Asia Pacific Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
   3. North America
      1. North America Packaging Foam Market, By Country
      2. North America Packaging Foam Market, By Type
      3. North America Packaging Foam Market, By Material
      4. North America Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
   4. Europe
      1. Europe Packaging Foam Market, By Country
      2. Europe Packaging Foam Market, By Type
      3. Europe Packaging Foam Market, By Material
      4. Europe Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
   5. Middle East & Africa
      1. Middle East & Africa Packaging Foam Market, By Country
      2. Middle East & Africa Packaging Foam Market, By Type
      3. Middle East & Africa Packaging Foam Market, By Material
      4. Middle East & Africa Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
   6. Latin America  
      1. Latin America Packaging Foam Market, By Country
      2. Latin America Packaging Foam Market, By Type
      3. Latin America Packaging Foam Market, By Material
      4. Latin America Packaging Foam Market, By End-user
9. Competitive Landscape
   1. Competitive Regional Exposure Analysis
10. Vendors Profile
    1. Atlas Roofing Corporation
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    2. ARMACELL
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    3. BASF SE
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    4. Borealis AG
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    5. Dart Container Corporation
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    6. FoamPartner Group
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    7. JSP
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    8. Kaneka Corporation
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    9. Sealed Air
       1. Analyst Opinion
       2. Business Analysis
          1. Strategic Snapshot
          2. Business Impact Analysis
          3. Product/Service Portfolio
       3. SWOT Analysis
    10. Wisconsin Foam Products
        1. Analyst Opinion
        2. Business Analysis
           1. Strategic Snapshot
           2. Business Impact Analysis
           3. Product/Service Portfolio
        3. SWOT Analysis
    11. Zotefoams
        1. Analyst Opinion
        2. Business Analysis
           1. Strategic Snapshot
           2. Business Impact Analysis
           3. Product/Service Portfolio
        3. SWOT Analysis
11. Annexure
    1. Report Scope
    2. Market Definition
    3. Research Methodology
       1. Data Collation & In-house Estimation
       2. Market Triangulation
       3. Forecasting
    4. Study Declarations
    5. Report Assumptions
    6. Stakeholders
    7. Abbreviations