Research Overview

Conventional industrial bulk packaging products, such as steel and plastic drums, are touted as classic workhorses for storage and transport of a broad range of industrial products across a diverse set of industries. The overall growth in economic activity and industrial output has strongly influenced the growth in the global industrial bulk packaging market. Moreover, prominent Mega Trends, coupled with evolving regulatory and customer requirements, continue to impact the selection, use, reuse, and disposal of such products. A study on the market for key industrial packaging products, thus, assumes significance.

This study is an attempt to quantify the sales of a select set of industrial bulk packaging products and to gauge the level of impact that the market developments, tightening regulatory scenario, and shifting consumer preferences are expected to have on the demand for such products over the next seven years. The study quantifies the sales volume and the corresponding revenue for individual product types across applications within each of the considered regional segments. Moreover, the study also focuses on quantifying the consumption of materials used in production of the considered set of products and indicates the corresponding revenue from 2016 to 2026.

The scope of the study includes the industrial bulk packaging market–based product types such as 55-gallon steel drums, 55-gallon plastic drums, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), and flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs). While first three of the aforementioned products compose the rigid packaging segment, the latter is a form of flexible packaging. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum & lubricants, paints & coatings, food & beverages, and others are the key application-based segments considered for rigid type of packaging products, whereas FIBCs are used for products in solid, granular, or powder forms in chemicals & minerals, construction, food, agroproducts, and pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, polypropylene, high–molecular weight, high-density polyethylene (HM-HDPE), and steel are the key materials used in production of the considered set of offerings. The study quantifies the consumption of each of these material types for individual product types on the basis of a robust methodology comprising analysis of the regional supply of such products as well as uptake of materials per product.