Packaging?Outlook and Trends

Realistic expectations are pinned to steady economic growth, while tempered by the cloud of overseas manufacturing.

THE PACKAGING MARKET as a whole had extremely robust growth during most of the 1990s. But with the recession of 2000-2001 and relatively slow recovery, overall growth slowed markedly, with some packaging types even declining. As we head into a new year, the usual optimism appears to be firmly based in reality. U.S. economic growth in the second half of last year was extremely robust, the best in more than 20 years. With the consensus forecast calling for more than 4 percent real growth in 2004, packaging markets should be strong.