Asia has Highest Global R-PET Capacity Market Share

Asia has the highest number of R-PET suppliers with a capacity market share of 48 percent, which is higher than Europe and the U.S.

Roughly around 48 percent R-PET manufacturers are in China as opposed to approximately 43 percent in Europe followed by North America and the Middle East. The huge volumes available in these markets will result in lots of global R-PET suppliers investing in the recycling sector, thus, prompting demand for food-grade recycled products from the bottle-to-bottle market. 

The R-PET pricing was on the lower end during the first quarter of 2021 owing to high demand from the virgin PET market. The supply situation is however expected to improve between the third and fourth quarter of 2021 with the possibility of price softening in the virgin PET market. Many big brands have announced their intent to eliminate virgin PET consumption and fossil fuel-based plastic usage to achieve their 100 percent target towards lower carbon emissions per bottle.

The recycling industry took a heavy fall under the Covid-19 impact. The financial impact of the coronavirus and related fall in virgin polymer values resulted in substitution away from recycled polymers in Europe, postponement of decisions related to investments, delayed projects, and much lower demand from the end-users. The effect of the pandemic was palpable on virgin PET vs. R-PET pricing. A fall in the virgin polymer industry resulted in substitution away from recycled polymers in Europe. By 2021, investments in the recycling sector will give way to an increased scope for extrusion technology in Europe to meet the increased demand for food-grade R-PET from the bottle-to-bottle market.

Key Findings:

• PET and RPET price trends forecast tight supply and healthy demand from packaging and bottle segments.

• There is more hope of using R-PET plastic for packaging in 2021. The recent regulations on the use of virgin plastics have pushed the demand for R-PET plastics.

• There is more demand from the sheet sector because of which buyers acknowledge increased competition for colorless flakes from the bottle-to-bottle sector and sourced volumes before the pandemic.

• The R-PET suppliers in Europe experiencing high demand from the bottle-to-bottle sector owing to a wave of new extrusion capacity being installed across the continent.

• Global R-PET suppliers anticipate continued growth in R-PET pricing and demand over the coming year as more packaging companies try to meet PCR commitments and legislation.