Specialty Papers Europe: Market Trends
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World consumption of specialty papers will reach 25.01 million tonnes in 2021, according to Smithers, as demand rallies after a challenging 2020.
Exclusive data from the forthcoming Smithers study – The Future of Specialty Papers 2026 shows Covid’s impact was most pronounced in industrial applications, some security segments, and décor papers. Overall across the 19 different paper grades covered in this study, the market declined by -1.6% over 2019-2020. Future growth will be better however, following a +3.3% expansion in 2021, a more stable +2.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is forecast through to 2026.
This will see global consumption reach 28.26 million tonnes in 2026.
The segments that performed best in 2020 are those for packaging and food contact, including home cooking. Over the next five years this steady increase in demand for C1S packaging, waxing base, and labels stocks will help sustain the industry.
The experience for filtration and electrical papers for was much worse. Volumes fell from 1.05 million tonnes in 2019 to 960,000 tonnes in 2020, and are only now rebounding. The return of demand is tied to the broader recovery in end-use industries, Smithers estimates this will be fastest for coffee filters, battery, and electrical insulation papers.
The market outlook for the whole specialty papers industry, including further insights from this study, will be examined by over 30 experts and opinion formers at the forthcoming Smithers Specialty Papers Europe 2021 online event, on 28-29 September.
