U.S. packaging machinery market grows 4.2% in 2014

The U.S. packaging machinery market grew 4.2% from 2013 to 2014, coming in at $9.41 billion, according to the 2015 PMMI State of the Industry U.S. Packaging Machinery Report.

The report also noted a 4.4% increase in domestic shipments, growth of 1.6% in exports and growth of 3.6% in imports. The order backlog as of Dec. 31, 2014 decreased by 6.4%.

PMMI, The Association for Processing and Packaging Technologies, produces the State of the Industry Study based on U.S. Census Bureau reports and shipments data provided by association members who manufacture packaging machinery. The report, which analyzes 27 packaging machinery categories, describes trends and the outlook for packaging machinery shipments through 2019.

The largest industry sector for packaging machinery is food, but it’s not the fastest growing, the study reports. That honor goes to the pharmaceuticals sector, which is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.7% to 2019. Behind pharmaceuticals, the forecast for the beverage market is a 2% CAGR.

“This year’s report also addresses the impacts of outside factors, from legislation to retailers to population growth, on the packaging machinery market,” says Jorge Izquierdo, vice president, market development, PMMI. “For example, it points to The Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA), which created a national regulation for pharmaceutical serialization and track and trace, as the source of the growth we’re seeing in packaging machinery for the pharmaceutical sector.”

Within the United States, the value of shipments of packaging machinery grew from $7.1 billion to $7.5 billion from 2013 to 2014. Growth is expected to continue at a 1.6% CAGR, reaching $8.1 billion by 2019.

PMMI, which owns and produces the Pack Expo portfolio of trade shows, released the results of the study this morning in a media briefing at Pack Expo Las Vegas and Pharma Expo 2015. With over 2,000 exhibitors in more than 800,000 net square feet of exhibit space, the co-located shows are welcoming 30,000 attendees to the Las Vegas Convention Center this week. To learn more, download the Executive Summary of this report at PMMI.org/research. An infographic is available as well.