Packaging Material Sourcing Skyrockets As Industrial Reshoring Continues to Rise
This week’s Thomas Index Report is sponsored by Econo-Pak, an FDA and USDA approved, SQF certified contract packaging services provider.
Welcome to the Thomas Index Report for the week of November 2nd.
As a quick reminder before we start today’s Index Report, you can find all of our COVID-19 resources and register your industrial business as a COVID-19 Response Supplier by visiting Thomasnet.com/COVID-19.
This week, we’re taking a closer look at industrial sourcing activity for packaging materials and services. On the Thomasnet.com platform, recent sourcing for these categories – and other related subcategories – has been up substantially.
Searches for liquid packaging have jumped 236% year-over-year, and packaging film sourcing has gone up 93% year-over-year. Interest in more general packaging services is also up 60% over the same timeframe.
This growth in packaging materials, coupled with increases in packaging machinery sourcing, indicates that many industrial businesses are interested in vertically integrating their packaging needs in-house, suggesting a noticeable shift toward reshoring. We’re seeing the most activity in these categories from buyers based in California, Illinois, Texas, New York, and Ontario, Canada.
As you might expect, demand for medical-related packaging is also increasing. Sourcing for medical device packaging is up 83% year-over-year and 178% over last quarter averages. Searches for broader medical packaging are also up 129% year-over-year and 114% over Q3. Demand for medical-related supplies has skyrocketed this year in light of COVID-19, and we expect sourcing spikes in these categories to continue over the long-term.
Finally, let’s take a look at agricultural packaging demand. Searches in this category are up 193% year-over-year and 50% over last quarter averages. A 2018 Cision report predicted that the agricultural packaging market would grow from $3.93 billion in 2018 up to $5.02 billion within the next three years. Though these figures may be impacted by COVID-19, the increase is still sizeable, and our data is already showing the initial markers of this continued growth.