Before entering the trade war, the packaging sector faced challenges in imports of Chinese fruit cocktails, similar canned foods, and vegetables across Southeast Asia and Europe, which stacked the US supermarket shelves and eliminated the price of comparable products sourced within the US.
Now, after imposing the 50 per cent tariff on aluminium and steel, key packaging metals, sparks reckoning for companies, especially in personal care and beverage sectors. Challenges like increased cost force switching to cheaper packaging options like plastic, fibre-based containers, and glass, creating an opportunity for those sectors.
Before doubling the tariff on aluminium and steel to 50 per cent, the CEO of Coca-Cola, James Quincey, conveyed their intention to shift their packaging to alternative options like plastic if the price of the cans becomes prohibitive. Russick, owing to this, stated that it is expected that the global packaging sector will slowly shift to aseptic carton packaging, like the ones produced by Swedish-Swiss Tetra Pak.
