Caps & Closures

Report Overview

Dispensing, child-resistant and anti-tampering capabilities are driving positive growth in the cap and closure industry through 2020. Although efforts to streamline and lightweight packaging for many markets have significantly affected the cap and closure industry, these shifts toward less packaging waste have not offset the trends toward greater use of single-serve packaging and dispensing features, both of which have positive effects on demand.

Bottled water continues to generate growth

Freedonia Group US industry study, Caps & Closures, projects that bottled water will continue to be the largest part of the beverage market. Since nearly all packaged beverages require a closure, this will propel unit demand for both standard threaded caps and those with value-added dispensing capability. Sales in dollars, as opposed to units, continue to be held back by lightweighting and source reduction efforts. Pharmaceutical caps and closures will also post significant growth, due to continued gains in pharmaceutical shipments. Less promising markets include household and automotive chemicals, though the adoption of more sophisticated closures in these markets will help to bolster gains somewhat.

Plastic continues to dominate

Plastic caps and closures will continue to maintain the largest share of demand, mostly because of the popularity of plastic containers in most markets. Formats such as stand-up pouches and gabletop cartons continue to make greater use of plastic threaded and dispensing caps to make contents easier to pour. Federal requirements stipulating the use of child-resistant closures (CRCs) will also bolster gains for plastic products as producers continue to introduce both senior-friendly and CRCs into the market, driving up the value as well as the unit demand. Metal closures will see increased use in wine, carbonated soft drinks and pharmaceuticals. However, weak production growth for beer will mitigate gains, especially as a greater proportion of beer is being packaged in cans.

Study coverage

Caps & Closures presents historical demand data (2005, 2010, 2015) plus forecasts for 2020 and 2025 by product (e.g., threaded, unthreaded, dispensing, child-resistant, screw and lug, crowns, roll-ons, paperboard, elastomer and rubber) and market (e.g., beverages, pharmaceuticals, food, automotive chemicals, household cleaning chemicals, cosmetics and toiletries). The study also considers key market environment factors, evaluates company market share and profiles industry players such as Berry Plastics, AptarGroup, WestRock, Reynolds Group and Silgan Holdings.

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