The moulded fibre market is worth $4.5 billion in 2025; with consumption at 12.6 million tonnes. Global growth to 2030 is forecast at 4.1% CAGR.
The market for moulded pulp is expected to continue to grow steadily from 2025 to 2030 as demand for sustainable solutions is supported by the implementation of PPWR in Europe and growing EPR regulation around the world. Growth in Asia and Africa is very strong as these catch up to more mature markets. Consumer preference and corporate sustainability goals are also strong drivers, but cost sensitivity remains high and pulp can be as much as 25% more expensive than plastic in some cases.
Key Questions
- In light of continued growth of e-commerce, what are the ways in which moulded pulp can compete with EPS for product protection?
- How will sustainability demands and regulations such as PPWR and EPR drive developments in moulded pulp?
- What developments in barrier coatings are extending possibilities for moulded fibre and opening new end use applications?
About the author
Philippa Davies has over 30 years of experience as a writer, editor and price reporter, specialising in commodities markets. She has been involved in monitoring, reporting on and analysing trends in chemical intermediates markets, including acrylic acid and esters, biomaterials, polyurethanes, and most recently, coatings for packaging, in the US, Asia and Europe. Philippa has authored several packaging and barrier coatings reports for Smithers, including The Future of Sustainable Barrier Coatings to 2030. Her research has been used in other Smithers projects within the packaging, pulp and barrier coatings sectors.
About Smithers Market Intelligence
Smithers high quality data and analysis is built on primary research and written by genuine industry experts with deep subject matter knowledge.
We have redesigned our market report format to help you to navigate to the content and analysis you need. Our reports are now delivered in a PowerPoint format so you can easily access and digest the information you require, but still include a full data set and in-depth analysis. This means you can spend more time analysing, and less time searching.
We have also introduced our Latest Data Guarantee, meaning our reports are now more dynamic than ever and ensure that you are kept up-to-date with any major industry changes. As part of your report purchase, we'll update the data set, market forecasts and/or analysis if there are any major industry updates within a 12-month period after the report is published.
Contact the team to find out more about the new report format or to request a demo – details below.
- Executive Summary
- Introduction and Methodology
- Methodology
- Market definitions
- Macroenomic Landscape
- Key highlights
- Competitive Landscape
- Key highlights
- Case study: Pulpac & DiageoCase study: Flora
- Market Drivers and Trends
- Economic uncertainty
- Regulations
- Cost
- Urbanisation
- Consumer concerns
- Recyclability/compostability
- Technology Trends and Other Developments
- Coatings
- Strength and lightweighting
- Dry moulded fibre
- Sustainable raw materials
- Paper bottles
- E-commerce
- Market Sizes and Forecasts
- Global moulded pulp packaging production
- Key highlights
- End-use Markets
- Retail food and drink
- Eggs
- Fresh Produce
- Wine and Bottle Shippers
- Other Retail
- Food & Drink
- Foodservice
- Takeaway
- Disposables
- Cosmetics and medical
- Consumer durables
- Consumer Electronics
- Electrical Appliances
- Other Durables
- Industrial goods
- Automotive Parts
- Other Industrials
- End-use Markets
- North America
- South & Central America
- Europe
- Eastern Europe
- Middle East & Africa
- Asia-Pacific
Figures
- Moulded Pulp Packaging Demand by End-use (Million Tonnes)
- Disclosure of sustainability-related information
- Metsä Spring takes new moulded fibre food trays with barrier film into industrial testing
- Stora Enso and Matrix Pack partner to accelerate innovation
- Paper-based cap and bottle and were trialling it in stores in the UK
- Several next generation cellulosic feedstocks have already been successfully used in moulded pulp applications
- Real GDP Growth Annual, by Key Regions (% change)
- Dry moulded paper bottle is still in the early stages of development
- Wet moulded tub, certified recyclable with no lining
- Global retail e-commerce sales
- World: moulded pulp packaging consumption, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
- Global moulded pulp packaging production – by region (‘000 tonnes and $ million, 2020-30)
- World: moulded pulp packaging consumption - by end-use application, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
- Development of natural gas prices for household consumers in EU 2015-25 (€ per 100 kwh)
- Development of natural gas prices for non-household consumers in EU 2015-25 (€ per 100 kwh)
- US: 12-month percentage change, consumer price index – all items (%)
- Asia Pacific: annual percentage change, end-of-period consumer prices, inflation (%)
By end-use application
- Moulded pulp packaging consumption, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
- Pulp packaging consumption – by region, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
List of end-use applications
- Retail food and drink Eggs Wine and bottle shippers
- Other retail food and drinkTotal foodservices Takeaway Disposables
- Cosmetics and Medical Cosmetics and other FMCG
- Medical applications
- Consumer durables
- Consumer electronics
- Electrical appliances
- Other durables
- Industrial goods
- Automotive parts
- Other industrial products
- Global moulded pulp packaging production – by region, 2020-30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
By region
- Moulded pulp packaging consumption, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
- Pulp packaging consumption – by end-use application, 2020–30 (‘000 tonnes; $ million)
List of regions
- North America
- United States Canada
- Mexico
- South & Central America
- Brazil Other South & Central America
- Western Europe France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- Other Western Europe
- Eastern Europe Poland
- Russia
- Other Eastern Europe
- Middle East & Africa Turkiye Other Middle East Africa
- Asia-Pacific China
- India
- Japan Other Asia-Pacific
- Australasia
