China-based Yuanda Mould sees growth potential in U.S., less developed economies like India, for its thin-wall IML food, paint/coating containers, 70% of which are shipped to Europe and only 8% to the U.S.

Graziela Medina Shepnick

LOS ANGELES , April 5, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) –

The growth potential for thin-wall plastic packaging looks promising in the U.S. and in less developed economies like India, for different reasons, says an executive at China-based Yuanda Mould Co. Ltd, reported Plastics News on April 5.

In the U.S., the “market understanding and growth of thin-wall packaging” lags behind Europe, said Ariel Jiang, sales manager for Yuanda, in an interview at NPE2012.

Yuanda, a Taizhou, Zhejiang-based company that was one of the first in China to develop and focus on thin-wall packaging, expects to boost its sales by 20% this year. The U.S., which represents just 8% of Yuanda’s sales, is seen as having great growth potential, Jiang said.

In the U.S., paper and foam cups are still widely used as compared with the thin-wall polystyrene cups that have been adopted in Europe and China for such uses as beverages served by airlines, she said, Plastics News reported.

About 70% of Yuanda’s products, which include high-end molds for thin-wall, in-mold labeling containers for food and paints/coatings, are shipped to Europe. Its molds cost about one-third of similar molds made in Europe, although its prices are on a par with Chinese competitors, said Jiang.

Demand for thin-wall packaging is picking up in less developed counties, such as India, where the rising middle class is increasingly choosing foods and drinks that are packed to ensure safety due to rising concerns about local environmental pollution, she said, reported Plastics News.

Yuanda is starting to fill more domestic orders in China, where an increasing amount of packaging suppliers are using “Western-brand, high-speed machines” that require the better molds that Yuanda can offer, said Jiang.

The company began to shift to more specialized products from making large molds for crates, outdoor furniture and consumer products five years ago, as competition among Chinese exporters became more and more about “the lowest price,” she said, Plastics News reported.

Yuanda also operates a molding division that makes proprietary products for original equipment manufacturers, mostly in Europe and Australia.

Its mold making unit and the molding unit each have annual sales of about 30 million yuan (US$5) and have a combined workforce of more than 120 people, reported Plastics News.

The primary source of this article is Plastics News, Akron, Ohio, on April 5, 2012.

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