Packaging Material Shortages & Price Fluctuations: Rising Demand Meets Limited Supply.

General global packaging material demand remains robust globally due to continued and intensive growth of e-commerce, the manufacturing of consumer products, and a growing commitment to sustainability from global manufacturers. On the supply side, as supply varies greatly for each product’s major raw materials (paper pulp, resin, metal, and biodegradable polymers), the slowdown in production in Asia and the escalation of geopolitical tensions have exacerbated the problem and caused an overall increase in lead times and unpredictable pricing of imports.

As a result of the continued and ongoing general increase in price, prices of both conventional and eco-friendly packaging materials will continue to rise. Importers in Canada, Europe, and the USA should prepare for price increases averaging between 8% and 15%. According to industry experts, those companies that have the largest dependency on imported packaging materials will need to adapt their procurement strategies and look to establish new supplier relationships.

The new environmental regulations set to enter into force in North America and Europe will have a large impact on packaging companies in these markets as the regulations introduce more stringent requirements for recyclability, compostability and reducing a products carbon footprint (which are currently all three very loose definitions) – this will lead to an ongoing shift to eco-friendly & sustainable solutions, which means that many packaging companies will be making investments into the development of greener options over the next few years, leading to a potentially higher short-term cost; however, by doing so, packaging suppliers will ultimately experience lower long-term lifecycle costs and the delivery of increased value.

As a result of the upcoming environmental regulations, importers should expect their costs to increase due to additional compliance costs associated with single-use plastics (i.e., bags, containers, cutlery etc) and non-recyclable packaging; therefore, importers who anticipate this trend and are willing to proactively implement (i.e., adopting sustainable solutions) some form of change sooner than later will be rewarded with lower regulatory costs and an enhanced perception of their brand in the marketplace. Source: afvnews.ca

包裝材料短缺與價格波動：需求成長與供應有限。由於電子商務的持續快速成長、消費品製造業的蓬勃發展以及全球製造商對永續發展的日益重視，全球包裝材料的整體需求仍然強勁。在供應方面，由於每種產品的主要原材料（紙漿、樹脂、金屬和可生物降解聚合物）的供應量差異巨大，亞洲生產放緩和地緣政治緊張局勢的升級加劇了這一問題，導致進口產品的交貨週期普遍延長，價格也變得難以預測。

由於價格持續上漲，傳統包裝材料和環保包裝材料的價格都將持續攀升。加拿大、歐洲和美國的進口商應做好價格平均上漲 8% 至 15% 的準備。業內專家指出，那些對進口包裝材料依賴程度最高的公司需要調整採購策略，並尋求建立新的供應商關係。

即將在北美和歐洲生效的新環境法規將對這些市場的包裝公司產生重大影響，因為這些法規對可回收性、可堆肥性和降低產品碳足跡（目前這三個概念的定義都非常寬泛）提出了更嚴格的要求。這將促使包裝產業持續向環保和永續解決方案轉型，這意味著未來幾年許多包裝公司將投資開發更環保的產品，這可能會導致短期成本上升；然而，這樣做最終將降低包裝供應商的長期生命週期成本，並提升其產品價值。

由於即將生效的環境法規，進口商應預期其成本將會增加，因為一次性塑膠製品（例如袋子、容器、餐具等）和不可回收包裝會增加合規成本；因此，預見到這一趨勢並願意積極採取措施（例如採用可持續解決方案）的進口商將獲得更低的監管成本，並提升其品牌在市場上的形象。