The packaging sector: trends and prospects

Manufacturing industry trends

The packaging sector is closely linked to the performance of the manufacturing industry, in particular the food, beverage, mass consumption, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors.

The current trend overview is based on preliminary data for 2024 pending confirmation by final data.

• The cosmetics sector is growing, with a +10%, supported by exports (+15%). The domestic market will increase by +6% compared to 2023.
• The pharmaceutical and mass consumption sectors show an increase of +4%.
• The food & beverage sector will grow moderately, with a +0.8%.
• The chemical and metallurgical sectors will increase by +1.5% and +0.9% respectively.
• Building materials will grow by +0.3%, but glass and ceramics are down.
• The “fashion system” (-5.5%), furniture (-1.5%) and household appliances (-0.6%) show a negative trend, with particular difficulties in the household appliances sector.

After a negative 2023, the Italian packaging industry expects a recovery in 2024, with a production growth of around 1.6%, exceeding 17,600 t/000. The positive results are mainly linked to the sectors that use packaging, especially those that have benefited from the increase in exports. The good performance of exports in manufacturing has also had a positive impact on industrial packaging for transport and logistics, such as corrugated cardboard, wood and plastic.

Materials and conclusions

The recovery in the packaging sector is driven by the increase in the use of paper (+3%) and plastic (+3.5%), with corrugated cardboard driving growth in transport and logistics. Plastic and aluminum packaging (+4%) benefit from demand in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. Flexible converter packaging (+3.5%) also recorded growth, mainly supported by food, but also by the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. Increases were also noted in steel (+1%) and wood (+0.8%). The only exception was glass, which saw a decline of around –1% due to the increase in imports, while maintaining stable demand.

The deficit in foreign trade in packaging continues in 2024, with imports exceeding exports, reaching around 290,000 tonnes compared to 123,000 in 2023. Imports increased by 7.9%, while exports increased by 2.1%. The main imported materials are glass (+1%) and plastic (+14.9%). An alignment between production and turnover is also expected for 2024, with an increase of +1.5%, exceeding 39 billion euros. Raw materials have seen stable prices, helping to contain increases in packaging costs.