Spain Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028)

The Spanish packaging market is expected to register a CAGR of 3.7% over the forecast period. Growing end-user industries and increasing investments by foreign players are significant factors driving the packaging industry in Spain. The recent rise in demand for pharmaceutical packaging and the trending shift to sustainable and environment-friendly packaging materials are opportunities that are expected to expand the packaging market during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• The country holds globally-recognized food manufacturing, motor vehicle, and pharmaceutical industry players. They boost the growth of the local contract packaging industry in the country. For instance, Referesco recently announced a strategic partnership with PepsiCo in Spain. The agreement includes transferring two of Pepsi's factories in Tafalla and Seville and will complement Refresco's existing facilities in Spain.
• Additionally, glass manufacturers maintain a policy of sustained investment in Spain with plants aimed at improving the operational excellence of indigenous industrial facilities and improving the quality and reliability of Spain as a producer. Becton, Dickinson, and Company (BD) announced plans to construct a new plant in Zaragoza, Spain, with an investment of EUR 165 million to produce glass pre-filled syringes and their plastic components.
• Also, Spain has increased its focus on the selective separation of recycling. According to ECOVIDrio, 7 out of 10 packaging items are recycled in Spain, with an average of 17.8 kg recycled per citizen a year. The country has 230,950 containers for recycling glass containers. The organization also highlighted that the recycling rate of glass packaging doubled in the last two decades and is expected to see strong growth over the forecast period.
• Additionally, Spain is the third-largest exporter of sparkling wine, with a quantity just below France's. The bottles are exported, mainly to the United States, Germany and Belgium. In 2022, the demand for Cava was expected to increase significantly, catering to the market growth. Further, the increasing demand for Spanish Cava worldwide is expected to foster the development of glass bottles.
• However, a higher market growth is anticipated in the projected timeframe owing to stringent rules and regulations on packaging materials and the ban on single-use plastic.
• Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the glass packaging sector faced a shortage of raw materials, which impacted the price of raw materials. For instance, according to EUROSTAT, Spain's producer prices in manufacturing and processing other glass, including technical glassware, reached 115.60 points in September 2022 from a record low of 83.00 points in January 2005. Further, the Russia-Ukraine war has had an impact on the overall packaging ecosystem.

Spain Packaging Market Trends

Surging Demand For Packaging in Food and Beverage Industry

• The growing food and beverage industry in Spain has boosted the demand for packaging material. Rigid plastic packaging, flexible plastic packaging, paperboard packaging, metal packaging, beverage cans, aerosols, and glass are some of the types of packaging materials used in the food and beverage industry. For instance, according to the European Food Agency, the Spanish food and beverage industry has a production of almost EUR 94 billion - the most critical sector for the Spanish economy and one of the most important in Europe in terms of production, employment, and exports.
• A folding carton is a good example of a packaging application where every container needs to look alike and pristine on the shelf. Product manufacturers want the same image, brand colors, and gloss level on their packaging. Matched priming and coating are vital ingredients in achieving consistency. As substrates are optimized for usage as a sealed packaging material, they are made more difficult to print on in general. The rising demand for folding cartons in the food and pharma industry is anticipated to boost the demand for packaging, especially paper packaging prodcuts, in Spain.
• Additionally, the increasing use of sustainable packaging, such as metal and glass, is anticipated to aid the growth. Market players operating in the European region are experiencing growth in glass and metal-based packaging. For instance, according to the Ardagh Group, in 2021, the company registered a revenue of over USD 7.6 billion, of which USD 1.84 billion and nearly USD 1.78 billion were from the European metal packaging business and the European glass packaging division, respectively. However, increased energy prices, due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war impacting the oil and gas supply, are expected to adversaly impact the segment over the next year.

Sustainability Initiative Taken In the Country

• Several initiatives have been undertaken to support recyclable plastic and to eliminate the use of single-use plastic for end products. For instance, in November 2022, Plastipak, a plastic packaging and recycling company, announced the opening of its new recycling facility in Spain. Also, players operating in the country are focusing on eliminating rigid plastic. For instance, in November 2022, Huhtamaki, a key advanced manufacturer of sustainable packaging solutions, inaugurated its extension to its existing paper-based packaging manufacturing site in Nules, Spain. This latest investment reflects the growing demand for renewable and recyclable paper-based packaging to substitute rigid plastics.
• However, Spain mandated new recycling rules to address the increasing waste disposal. For instance, in November 2022, the Spanish government passed a new law governing the disposal of waste in Spain, which would come into full effect in 2023. Under this law, restaurants will be required to provide customers with tap water for free to reduce waste from plastic water bottles. This may have an adverse effect on market growth.
• Some of the larger personal care companies, like Unilever and L’Oreal, have signed on to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s “New Plastics Economy” goals. L’Oreal is aiming to make 100% of their packaging reusable, refillable, or compostable by 2025, and to source 50% of that packaging from recycled material.
• Furthermore, the paper-based packaging industry is a significant contributor to the Spanish economy; significant investment in the sector has been observed. In April 2022, Spain passed a comprehensive waste reduction regulation, which lends major support to reusable and recyclable packaging in the food sector, and includes goals focused on the waste reduction generally and single-use plastic waste in particular. This law may act as a driver for paper and paperboard packaging companies in the country to offer their environmentally sustainable packaging solution in food packaging.
• According to Aspapel, the production volume of paper and paperboard in Spain amounted to around 6.7 million metric tons in 2021, up from 6.3 million tons in 2020 . This indicated an increase of about 7.5% as compared to 2010.

Spain Packaging Market Competitor Analysis

The Spanish packaging market is fragmented due to numerous local and global vendors in the country. Globally renowned vendors, such as Amcor PLC, Berry Global Inc., Quadpack Industries SA, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), Agrado SA, International Paper Company, and Ball Corporation, among others, are some of the vendors present in the market, making it a highly competitive sector. Global market players are finding new ways to accelerate the development of flexible packaging in Spain, such as strategic partnerships and horizontal or vertical integration.

In April 2022, Spain passed a comprehensive waste reduction regulation, which lends major support to reusable and recyclable packaging in the food sector, and includes goals focused on waste reduction generally and single-use plastic waste in particular. This law may act as a driver for paper and paperboard packaging companies in the country to offer their environmentally sustainable packaging solution in food packaging.

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