Plastic Bag Market - U.S. Plastic Bag Imports Climb, Fueled By Strong Supply from China and Canada
Plastics July 08, 2016
Photo: © ifong / Bigstockphoto
The U.S. is the leader in global imports of plastic bags, accounting for an 18% share (based on USD). It was followed by Japan (10%), Germany (7%), and the UK (7%). In 2015, U.S. imports on the plastic bag market totaled 2,698 million USD, which was 143 million USD (6%) higher than the year before. A significant drop in 2009 was followed by robust growth through to 2015, with an average annual increase of +7% from 2010 to 2015. In 2012, U.S. plastic bag imports surpassed their pre-recession level of 2008.
Supported by healthy growth rates, the U.S. remains one of the most attractive destinations for overseas suppliers.
China was the main supplier of plastic bags into the U.S., with a 40% share of total U.S. imports in 2015, based on USD. It was distantly followed by Canada (17%) and Mexico (8%). Imports from China grew by +3.7% per year from 2007 to 2015; however, Mexico was the fastest growing supplier (+12.3% per year), while Canada remained relatively stable. Consequently, China strengthened its position in the U.S. import structure by +1 percentage point from 2007 to 2015, and Mexico gained +4 percentage points. Meanwhile, Canada saw its share reduced by -3 percentage points over the same period.
From 2007 to 2015, the U.S. was a net importer of plastic bags. However, exports grew slightly faster than imports on average over the period under review. Net US imports of plastic bags went generally in line with imports, declining in 2009 and then increasing gradually till the end of the period. In 2015, this industry ran a trade deficit of almost 1.7 billion USD.
Do you want to know more about the U.S. plastic bag market? Get the latest trends and insight from our report. It includes a wide range of statistics on
- plastic bag market share
- plastic bag prices
- plastic bag industry
- plastic bag sales
- plastic bag market forecast
- plastic bag price forecast
- key plastic bag producers
Source: U.S. Plastic Bag Market. Analysis And Forecast to 2020
