Plastic Caps and Closures Market to Grow with Lifting Stay-at-Home Orders and Vaccine Availability

The COVID-19 pandemic had a varied impact on the global plastic caps and closures industry. At the global level, the industry avoided declines seen in many other sectors of the economy and instead experienced moderate levels of growth, reflecting the essential nature of many of the products that utilize caps and closures. Going forward, the market for plastic caps and closures is expected to continue to grow, as stay-at-home orders are lifted and vaccines become more widely available in 2021 and 2022.

Plastic caps and closure demand in the food and beverage markets experienced moderate growth in 2020, as trends toward at-home consumption somewhat offsets losses in dining out:

• Stay-at-home orders encouraged consumers to shop for food and beverages less frequently, boosting demand for packaged products with longer shelf lives for at-home consumption, including:
  • products such as condiments, which frequently use plastic closures because their primary packaging format has shifted from glass bottles to plastic
  • packaged beverages that are often consumed everyday – such as bottled water or CSD
• The reduction in foot traffic at gas stations and convenience stores reduced purchases of bottle beverages and convenience food items that were consumed on-the-go.
• Closures of in-person dining at restaurants and bars reduced sales of bottled beers and other products commonly used in foodservice.

During 2020, plastic pharmaceutical caps and closures maintained a rate of growth slightly below that seen during 2019. Stronger gains in this market were limited by the postponement or cancellation of elective medical treatments, including routine doctor appointments. However, sales were supported by increased demand for over-the-counter medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other fever- and pain-relievers, which were often used by those infected with COVID-19 who quarantined at home.