US demand for rigid bulk packaging looks set to increase by 4 per cent per annum to reach $7.3bn in 2018, says a new report from the Ohio-based Freedonia Group. Entitled Rigid Bulk Packaging, the report say that this growth will represent an improvement on the prior five-year period as "manufacturing output and construction activity recover further from post-recession troughs". The resurgence of these segments, it continues, "will fuel rebounds in the production of chemicals and plastic materials, which will support heightened demand for related rigid bulk packaging". Rigid bulk packaging manufacturers will "also benefit from trends that are increasing the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in the US, including insourcing (also called 'reshoring' or 'onshoring') and rising production of shale oil and gas". In terms of packaging types, rigid intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) are expected to see the fastest growth of around 6 per cent over the coming five years, boosting their market worth from $810m in 2013 to just under $l.lbn in 2018. This will most likely be driven by the cost benefits they offer over smaller units coupled with an increasing emphasis among users on environmental concerns and closed-loop supply chains.
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