Water-Soluble Films Market Outlook - 2021–2030
The global water-soluble films market size was valued at $352.0 million in 2020, and is projected to reach $644.7 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2021 to 2030.
Water soluble films, also known as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA/PVOH) film is a synthetic polymer and is soluble in water. It is used for specific unit dose packaging of agrochemicals, detergents, food ingredients, water treatment chemicals, and others.
Water soluble films are mostly preferred for packaging applications in pharmaceutical industry owing to their high solvent resistance and gas barrier properties. The pharmaceutical industry is growing rapidly owing to the increasing severity of diseases and growing awareness for health-related issues. For instance, according to a report published by Indian Economic Survey, the domestic pharmaceutical market is expected to grow three times and is expected to reach $65 million by 2024 and further expand to reach around $10 million by 2030. Moreover, factors such as rapid technological advancements and increased integration of industries, have resulted in the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical sector. Thus, growing pharmaceutical industry is anticipated to surge the demand for water-soluble film, thereby augmenting the global market growth. In addition, key players in the market are launching innovative water-soluble films that are can offer chemical resistance making them an ideal choice for packaging of powdered chemical products. All these factors collectively augment the demand for the global water soluble-film market.
However, high production cost associated with manufacturing of water-soluble films is predicted to hamper the market growth. The manufacturing process of water-soluble films involves several stages such as preparation of resin mixture, heating & melting, extrusion, and others. These processes require skilled professional and highly sophisticated machines to impart several significant properties such as high tensile strength, biodegradability, flexibility, non-toxic, and adhesive properties. This makes the end product relatively expensive, thereby restraining the consumers from buying water soluble films.
On the contrary, increasing use of water-soluble films for detergent packaging is anticipated to offer new opportunities in the global market. The growing awareness for health and hygiene has surged the demand for detergents for laundering and dishwashing purposes. At present, people are more concerned about sanitization, which in turn has provided an additional push to the sales of detergents. The chemicals used in detergents are usually toxic and may cause severe pollution and endanger health. Therefore, water-soluble films are widely used for detergent packaging applications owing to their properties such as barrier protection, resistance to oil & organic solvents, and biodegradability. All these factors are expected to offer future growth opportunities to the global water-soluble films market.
The water-soluble films market analysis is done on the basis of product type, dissolution rate, end-use, and region. On the basis of product type, the market is categorized into hot water-soluble film and cold water-soluble film. On the basis of dissolution rate, the global market is segmented into fast soluble film, medium soluble film, and slow soluble film. The end user covered in the study includes textile, pharmaceutical & healthcare, agriculture, consumer goods, and others. Region wise, the market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.
The major companies profiled in this report include Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, KURARAY Co. Ltd., Sekisui Specialty Chemicals, AICELLO Corporation, Arrow GreenTech Ltd., Cortec Corporation, Soluble
Technology Limited, ACEDAG Ltd., Jiangmen Cinch Packaging Materials Co., Ltd., and Joyforce Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.
The global market analysis covers in-depth information about the major water-soluble films industry participants.
Water-soluble films Market, by Region
Asia-Pacific water-soluble films market size is projected to witness growth at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period and accounted for XX% of water-soluble films market share in 2020. The utilization of water-soluble films in sectors such as pharmaceutical, food packaging, textiles, agriculture, building and construction, and others are the major key market trends in the Asia-Pacific region. The proliferating demand for pharmaceutical products where water soluble films are used as a major packaging material for vaccines, fast soluble tablets, and other drugs may foster market growth.
By Region
Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region
Water-soluble films Market, by Product Type
In 2020, the cold water-soluble film segment was the largest revenue generator, and it is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. The increasing population has surged the demand for consumer goods where cold water-soluble films are widely used for packaging applications owing to their excellent heat-sealing property and printability. This may act as one of the key drivers responsible for the growth of the cold water-soluble film.
By Product Type
Cold Water-Soluble Film is the most lucrative segment
Water-soluble films Market, by Dissolution Rate
In 2020, the medium soluble film segment was the largest revenue generator, and it is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period. The increasing demand for pharmaceutical products where medium soluble films are widely used in packaging vitamins, vaccines, and other drug products, may lead the water-soluble films market to witness a significant increase in demand.
By Dissolution Rate
Medium soluble film is the fastest growing segment
Water-soluble films Market, by End Use
By end use, the pharmaceutical & healthcare segment is expected to expand at the fastest rate during the forecast period, and it is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period. The increasing severity of diseases has surged the growth of the pharmaceutical sector where water-soluble films are widely used for packaging drugs, vaccines, and other products may boost the market growth. Moreover, low cost of production and increasing R&D boost the efficiency of the pharmaceutical companies, which in turn has led to competitive exports where water-soluble films are used as a prime packaging material.
By End-use
Consumer Goods is the most lucrative segment
Key Benefits for Stakeholders
- Porter’s five forces analysis helps analyze the potential of buyers & suppliers and the competitive scenario of the industry for strategy building.
- It outlines the current water-soluble films market trends and future estimations from 2020 to 2030 to understand the prevailing opportunities and potential investment pockets.
- The major countries in the region have been mapped according to their individual revenue contribution to the regional market.
- The key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their detailed impact analysis are explained in the study.
- The profiles of key players and their key strategic developments are enlisted in the report.
Impact Of Covid-19 On The Global Water-soluble Films Market
- 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 major end-users of water-soluble films such as textile, consumer goods, agriculture, food & beverages, packaging, 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 water-soluble film 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 water soluble film in the food & 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 has reduced the use of water-soluble films among the packaging sectors.
- Furthermore, the temporary shutdown textile manufacturing sectors amid the COVID-19 period has reduced the consumption of water-soluble films for the packaging of contaminated textiles products. This has resulted in decreased consumption of water-soluble film in the textile industry.
- However, the water-soluble films market is expected to recover rapidly post COVID-19 situation due to its increased dependency over healthcare & pharmaceutical, e-commerce, industrial packaging, and other sectors.
- For instance, according to an article published by Business Standard, the COVID-19 second wave has pushed the Indian pharmaceutical sector to witness growth by around 59% in April 2021. In addition, as the restrictions imposed due to lockdowns are being lifted, the water-soluble films market is expected to recover soon, owing to increasing demand for water soluble industrial packaging products among several end-use sectors. This is expected to enhance the performance of the water-soluble films market post-COVID-19 scenario.
Water-Soluble Films Market Report Highlights
| Aspects | Details |
 By Type |
|
 By APPLICATION |
|
 By Geography |
|
 Key Market Players | CINCH PACKAGING MATERIALS CO., LTD, AMTREX NATURE CARE PVT. LTD., THE NIPPON SYNTHETIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD, KURARAY CO., LTD., AICELLO CORPORATION, SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD, HARKE GROUP., NEPTUN TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, ARROW GREENTECH LTD, CHANGZHOU KELIN PVA WATER SOLUBLE FILMS CO.,LTD. |
 Other Top Companies | Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT, INFHIDRO, KK NonWovens, Soluble Technology Ltd, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Polatechno Co., Ltd., Nissin Corporation, Acedag Limited, Soltec development Inc., 3M |
Analyst Review
The global water-soluble film market is expected to exhibit high growth potential owing to its use in industries such as textile, pharmaceutical & healthcare, agriculture, and consumer goods. The increasing severity of diseases has surged the growth of the pharmaceutical sector where water-soluble films are widely used for packaging drugs, vaccines, and other products may boost the market growth. Moreover, low cost of production and increasing R&D boost the efficiency of the pharmaceutical companies which in turn has led to competitive exports where water-soluble films are used as a prime packaging material. This may provide an additional push to the growth of the water-soluble films market among the growing pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. In addition, increasing investments and foreign direct investment inflow in pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors in both developed and developing economies may drive the growth of the market. The increasing demand for pharmaceutical products where fast soluble films are widely used in packaging vitamins, vaccines, and other drug products, which is predicted to offer lucrative growth opportunities in the future.
In addition, the growing population has increased the demand for crop production. For instance, according to a report published by the Economic Survey of India, the total food grain production in the country was 296.65 million tons in 2020 that is 11.4 million ton more as compared with 285.21 million tons in 2019. Moreover, technological advancements in agricultural sectors have led to a rapid shift from traditional farming methods to advanced farming methods where water soluble films are widely used for packaging of fertilizers and pesticides bags owing to their unique physical property and biodegradability. This may fuel the growth of the water-soluble films market in the growing agricultural sectors.
The global water-soluble film market size was valued at $352.0 million in 2020, and is projected to reach $644.7 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2021 to 2030
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, KURARAY Co. Ltd., Sekisui Specialty Chemicals, AICELLO Corporation, Arrow GreenTech Ltd., Cortec Corporation, Soluble Technology Limited, ACEDAG Ltd., Jiangmen Cinch Packaging Materials Co., Ltd., and Joyforce Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. are the most established players of the global water soluble films market.
Consumer goods industry is projected to increase the demand for water soluble films Market.
The water-soluble films market analysis is done on the basis of product type, dissolution rate, end-use, and region. On the basis of product type, the market is categorized into hot water-soluble film and cold water-soluble film. On the basis of dissolution rate, the global market is segmented into fast soluble film, medium soluble film, and slow soluble film. The end user covered in the study includes textile, pharmaceutical & healthcare, agriculture, consumer goods, and others. Region wise, the market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA
Water soluble films are mostly preferred for packaging applications in pharmaceutical industry owing to their high solvent resistance and gas barrier properties. The pharmaceutical industry is growing rapidly owing to the increasing severity of diseases and growing awareness for health-related issues. For instance, according to a report published by Indian Economic Survey, the domestic pharmaceutical market is expected to grow three times and is expected to reach $65 million by 2024 and further expand to reach around $10 million by 2030. Moreover, factors such as rapid technological advancements and increased integration of industries, have resulted in the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical sector. Thus, growing pharmaceutical industry is anticipated to surge the demand for water-soluble film, thereby augmenting the global market growth.
Pharmaceutical & healthcare and textile applications are expected to drive the adoption of water soluble films.
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