Polymer Trends: What's in Store for Blow Molding

The global polyethylene market is changing dramatically. As part of our mission to provide converters with unrivaled customer experiences, Shell Polymers is committed to keeping a pulse on industry trends and highlighting advancements affecting blow molders. This way, we can provide our customers with expert insights on the current, credible market research.

Blow molding is primarily used to make bottles and containers for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, personal care, and chemical sectors. It’s also a primary way to make industrial and automotive components. Because of the high demand for blow-molded parts in a wide variety of industries, blow molding resin sales are continuing to grow in many regions, including:

● North America
● Europe
● China, Japan, and India
● Asia Pacific
● Latin America
● The Middle East
● Africa

The demand for blow-molded plastic components is on the rise¹, and with it, the polyethylene industry as a whole is adapting as we embark further into 2020.

Upward Blow Molding Trends

Based on statistics compiled by the American Chemistry Council, Townsend Solutions suggests that sales of HDPE resin to blow molders in the USA and Canada were up 4.6% in September 2019 when compared to the previous year. Resin sales to liquid food bottle manufacturers and related blow molding applications showed the largest increases with 5.2% and 20.7%.²

Downward Blow Molding Trends

According to Townsend Solutions, sales of LLDPE resins to blow molders in the USA and Canada were down 12.7% in September 2018, compared with the year before.³

In a recent op-ed by Plastics News economics editor Bill Woods,⁴ he reports that while we have a fully-employed population that is gradually increasing its overall spending, business investment is decelerating and the manufacturing sector is already into a phase of consolidation.

Another factor affecting plastics is consumer preferences. According to Wood’s analysis, buyers are less willing to purchase plastic bottles due to the spotlight on sustainability and the declining demand for dairy milk and soft drinks. While demand for blow-molded parts is expected to continue growing around the world, some applications are switching to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) because of sustainability concerns.

_{¹ Multilayer Blown Films Market by Transparency Market Research https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/multilayer-blown-films-market.html}

_{² Plastic Market Monthly, US & Canada, HDPE, October 31, 2019 by Townsend Solutions}

_{³ Plastic Market Monthly, US & Canada, LLDPE, October 31, 2019 by Townsend Solutions}

_{⁴ Data for Blow Molders Reflects Larger Economic Issues by Bill Wood, Economics Editor, Plastics News, November 13, 2019}