Demand for produce packaging in the US is forecast to climb 4.2% yearly to $4.7 billion in 2012. Accelerated produce production will boost packaging unit advances, though value gains will decelerate as prices rise more slowly than in the 2002- 2007 period. Growth will outpace over-all food packaging and be fueled not only by increased production but also growth in consumer spending, trends toward healthier eating and rising demand for fresh-cut produce, which tends to use more value-added packaging than bulk produce.

These and other trends are presented in Produce Packag ing, a new 277-page study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry re - search firm.

Corrugated boxes will remain the leading produce packaging through 2012 up 3.2%, from $1.46 billion in 2007 to $1.7 billion. While box demand will increase slower than average, advances will be driven by the expanded use of more costly box types such as modular, white-top linerboard and moisture-resistant recyclable types.

Plastic containers will experience the fastest gains at 6.9%, from $735 million to $1.025 billion in 2012. This will result from increases in berry production and expanding applications for clamshells, bowls and other plastic containers in other produce uses, especially readyto- eat, fresh-cut produce.

Bag and liner demand is expected to increase from about 1.2 billion to $1.46 billion. Trays will grow from $100 million to $115 million and other types of packaging will grow from $325 million to $375 million.

Salad will remain the fastest growing segment of the market, though growth will decelerate from the pace of the past decade as retail bagged salads become more mature. www.freedoniagroup.com

• In another research report, The Economics of Ground Calcium Car bon - ate (3rd Edition), Roskill Information Services, London, England, analyzes ground calcium carbonate (GCC) supply and demand in over 70 countries.

The GCC market expanded from around 56 Mt in 2004 to almost 72 Mt in 2007, an average annual growth rate of nearly 9%. World demand is forecast to continue to grow at an average annual rate of 4% to 2012, to reach 87.4 Mt.

Rising demand for paper pigments has been the main driver behind the rapid growth in GCC consumption since the early 1980s. GCC competes with kaolin and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mainly as filler, but increasingly in coating applications in printing and writing paper. The market for GCC in paper coating has shown a high rate of growth because of its brightness and good performance in high-speed paper machines, which has helped GCC to take market share from kaolin.

The plastics industry is the second largest user of GCC, accounting for an estimated 14.4 Mt/y of consumption in 2007, compared with 10.2 Mt/y in 2004.

Global production capacity for all grades of GCC has grown to 73 Mt/y compared with less than 60 Mt/y in 2004. Most of the new capacity has been built in Asia which now accounts for 29% of world capacity. Ten companies control nearly 64% of global production capacity. Production of GCC in China has grown from 5.2 Mt in 2002 to 11.9 Mt in 2007. Much of this growth has been fuelled by demand for wet ground material from the paper mills. Both Imerys and Omya have invested in WGCC in China.

GCC plants have traditionally been located close to sources of marble or limestone, but increasing demand from countries where local reserves of suitable calcium carbonate are limited, or absent, has led to the growth in shipments of high-brightness marble to distant plants close to leading end-use markets. Major flows of marble are from Malaysia to China and Japan, Italy to Belgium and Sweden and in the coming years from Turkey to The Netherlands.

Roskill's report, at over 320 pages, says that over the next four years, paper will remain the main market for GCC and its market share will increase slightly. Global demand for GCC in paper is forecast to rise by 5.5% per year to 2012. The anticipated strong growth in Asian production will be slightly offset by much lower rates of growth in Europe and North America. The South American market for GCC has been constrained by lack of suitable raw materials but new plants based on imported marble could lead to increased demand in this region. Global growth in demand for GCC in plastics and paint over the years to 2012 is expected to grow at 5% per year and 4% per year respectively.

PI

www.roskill.co.uk