Container Glass Market Expected to Reach $155.9 Billion by 2030

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Container Glass Market by Glass Type, Forming Method, and End Use: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021–2030,"the global container glass market was valued at $82.2 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $155.9 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2021 to 2030.

Soda-lime-silica-based, also known as soda-lime glass is among the most prevalent type of glasses. It possesses excellent significant properties such as chemical stability, extreme workability, high melting temperature, and thermal shock resistance that make it best suited for a wide range of applications such as manufacturing windowpanes, glass containers, and commodity items in foods & beverages, pharmaceutical, décor, and other end use sectors.   

Increase in disposable income and busy lifestyles are contributing toward growth of the foods & beverages sector where blow & blow forming method-based narrow glass containers are widely used for storage of food items. This acts as one of the key drivers responsible for growth of the glass container market. Moreover, rise in R&D activities has increased demand for glass-based flasks and tubes made from the blow & blow forming methods in laboratories, industries, and other end use sectors. This propels growth of the container glass market during the forecast period. In addition, rapid industrialization in both developed and developing economies may increase demand for narrow neck glass containers produced from blow & blow forming method for liquid storage applications. This is projected to offer lucrative opportunities for the container glass market. These factors are predicted to notably contribute toward the global market.

However, container glass is manufactured by annealing process in which different air polluting compounds such as sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, and other harmful particulates are released. The exposure of these harmful compounds at high concentrations may cause severe respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, mucus secretion, and lungs cancer. Moreover, the particulates released during the final stage of container glass manufacturing are even more dangerous as they are smaller is size (around 10 micrometer or even smaller) and may cause several health-related disorders once they enter respiratory tract. This factor is anticipated to hamper the market growth.

Rise in disposable income and busy lifestyles has led customers to become more linear toward packed food items where glass containers are widely used for food storage purposes. Moreover, increase in global young population has increased demand for premium alcoholic beverages where glass containers are widely used for bottling purposes. In addition, backshift from plastic bottles to glass bottles in the dairy industry attributed to the reusability of glass bottles has increased popularity of glass containers in the dairy sector. This factor is anticipated to open up new opportunities for the market.

The global container glass market is segmented on the basis of glass type, forming method, end user, and region.

By glass type, the market is segregated into borosilicate-based and soda-lime-silica-based. The borosilicate-based type dominated the global market, in terms of revenue in 2020, with over five-seventh of the total share. Increase in research and development (R&D) activities in the biomedical sector for producing highly efficient products has increased laboratory activities where borosilicate-based container glass is widely used as flasks, reagent bottles, and others. This acts as one of the key drivers responsible for growth of the container glass market for borosilicate-based.

By forming method, the global container glass market is segmented into blow & blow, press & blow, and narrow neck press & blow. The press & blow segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue in 2020, with over half of the total share. Rise in trends of using reusable bottles have led a backward shift from plastic bottles to glass bottles in the foods & beverages industry. This may act as one of the key drivers responsible for the growth of the container glass market for press & blow method.

By end user, the market is fragmented into foods & beverages, cosmetic & personal care, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and others. The foods & beverages end use sector dominated the global market, with over three-fourth of the total share in 2020. Increase in disposable income and busy lifestyles has led customers to become more linear toward packed food items where glass containers are widely used for food storage purposes. This acts as one of the key drivers responsible for growth of the container glass market in the foods & beverages sector. Moreover, increasing global young population has led to rise in demand for premium alcoholic beverages where glass containers are widely used for bottling purposes. This act as one of the key drivers responsible for growth of the container glass market in the foods & beverages sector.

Region-wise, the container glass market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific container glass market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Rise in food & beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, and cosmetics & personal care sectors have enhanced performance of container glass in Asia-Pacific. The food & beverage sector in China is increasing rapidly, which has forced container glass manufacturers to produce high quality container glass for food packaging and storage applications.

Key players operating in the global container glass market include Amcor PLC, FrigoGlass, Owens Illinois Glass Inc., Consol Glass Pty Ltd., Vitro, Vidrala, Hindusthan National Glass and Industries Ltd., Gerresheimer AG, DWK Life Sciences GmbH, and Toyo Glass Co. Ltd.

COVID-19 analysis

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable global pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and the economy around the globe. The global container glass market has been moderately affected due to COVID-19 pandemic. The major end users of container glass such as foods & beverages, cosmetics & personal care, packaging, chemicals, and others have been negatively impacted due to the ongoing pandemic outbreak. The ongoing health crisis has increased the supply-demand gap, hampering the global container glass supply chain. According to a report published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI), the South African food and non-alcoholic beverage sector have gone through a moderate decline of the flow of income by -10% to -30%, whereas the alcoholic beverages have experienced a bigger impact of -60% in 2020. This in turn has decreased the demand for container glass used in storage and packaging applications in the Foods & beverages sector amid the COVID-19 period. Also, more than 100 countries have locked their international borders for transportation and non-essential trade activities which in turn have decreased the demand for container glass among several end use sectors. Furthermore, the temporary shutdown of construction and infrastructure activities amid the COVID-19 period has reduced the consumption of container glass for interior and exterior décor purposes. For instance, according to a report published by a research journal, the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the investment in the construction industry in India by 30%. This has resulted in decreased consumption of container glass in the home décor industry.

In 2020, container glass prices are expected to be higher in Asia. The price rise is due to continued regional demand trends and tight product availability. Firm downstream container glass demand and stronger upstream costs are expected to sustain the price gain. Few of the chemical plants have gone for renovation and a few are also shut down currently which in turn may hamper the demand for container glass amid the COVID-19 period.

However, the container glass market is expected to recover rapidly post COVID-19 situation due to its increased dependency over healthcare & pharmaceutical, e-commerce, food & beverage, and other sectors. For instance, according to a report published by the Business Standard, COVID-19 second wave has increased the sales of medicines in both domestic and international market by 59% in April 2021. This is expected to enhance the performance of the container glass market post-COVID-19 scenario.

Key findings of the study

• The borosilicate-based segment is estimated to display highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 6.8% from 2021 to 2030.
• The press & blow forming segment is anticipated to register highest CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period.
• The pharmaceuticals end use segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 7.5% from 2021 to 2030.
• Asia-Pacific garnered the highest share of 43.3% in 2020, in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of 7.3%