While the United States is by far the world's biggest consumer of caps and closures in value terms, the most rapid growth will occur in developing regions. Some of the best opportunities will be found in the Asia/Pacific region, noted Freedonia's report, which will account for more than two-fifths of aggregate market value gains between 2009 and 2014. China, which is the world's largest consumer of caps and closures in terms of volume, will continue to see some of the fastest growth as advances in personal income levels and consumer expenditures, combined with trends toward urbanization, boost demand for packaged consumer goods.
Plastic caps and closures, the largest product type, will continue to see above-average growth. Demand will benefit from greater use of plastic packaging at the expense of glass bottles and jars (especially in food and beverage applications), as plastic containers typically use plastic caps and closures, while glass bottles and jars often use metal closures. Despite losing market share to plastics, metal caps and closures will continue to represent a large share of total demand.
