Plastic packaging has been gaining market share in France over a period of several years, while the demand for paper and cardboard has continuously declined. However, developments turned around in 2005. "This was the first time for ten years that this has happened," said the German Office for Foreign Trade (bfai, Cologne; www.bfai.de), citing a market analysis by credit insurer Euler Hermes. The study sees this trend as continuing over the next few years. Euler Hermes forecasts a real increase of 2% in demand for paper and 1% for plastics in 2006 and 2007. The main reason for the turnaround is that, since mid-2002, the price of paper packaging has dropped continuously, while from mid-2004 the price of plastics packaging has significantly increased, says the report.

Despite the recent developments, plastics still account for the largest share – 30% – of packaging materials used in France. Together, polymer materials and paper/cardboard account for well over 50% of the total market. Plastic packaging has also developed much faster than paper in the past few years. From the beginning of 1996 to the beginning of 2006, plastics´ share grew in real terms by 45%, while the share of paper rose by just 10%, according to the market researchers.

Number of packaging producers in France according to material 2005
Plastic	549
Paper / Cardboard	564
Wood	692
Metal	73
Glass	125
Total	2,003

Source: Euler Hermes, National Office of Statistic INSEE

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Euler Hermes survey of the French packaging market as PDF document (1,871 KB)