Thailand Metal Packaging Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

Thailand Metal Packaging Market Trends and Insights

Premiumisation of Ready-to-Drink Beverages

Thailand’s beverage fillers sold 13.02 billion liters worth USD 25.32 billion in 2023, locking in higher value-per-liter price points that rely on aluminum cans for barrier integrity and upscale shelf appea. Health-centric formulas and functional additives are growing 3.5-4.5% annually, and the sleek can profile has become a visual shorthand for premium performance drinks. Major brewers and energy-drink brands schedule frequent limited-edition runs, driving specification turnover that favors agile local converters. Export sales of non-alcoholic drinks delivered USD 2.78 billion in 2023, reinforcing volume certainty for can-body lines that can switch between domestic and regional SKUs overnight. Crown Holdings posted 4% global beverage-can growth in 2024 with Asia Pacific outpacing all other regions, a data point that validates persistent demand from Thai fillers.

Growth of Thailand’s Pet-food Export Hub

Thailand shipped USD 26.5 billion in processed foods in 2023, with pet food singled out by regulators as a next-wave export champion requiring hermetically sealed metal formats. ^{[1]USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, “Exporter Guide Annual: Thailand,” usda.gov} Leading co-packers have installed retort lines optimized for tuna-based diets, and their procurement policies specify drawn-and-redrawn cans that withstand multi-week sea freight. Eastern Economic Corridor tax incentives continue to attract new extruded-kibble producers, ensuring sticky long-term offtake for local can-stock suppliers. Regional pet ownership is climbing fastest in Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and import agencies in those markets cite metal’s oxygen resistance as critical to nutrient preservation. As unit volumes swell, Thai converters gain purchasing leverage on coil feedstock, partially offsetting global aluminum price firming.

Expansion of Halal-certified Canned Seafood

Halal-certified packers source mackerel, sardine, and shrimp from dual-coast fisheries, then process under Islamic law to serve Indonesia, Malaysia, and Gulf Cooperation Council retail chains. Certification bodies require tamper-evident closures and contamination-proof linings that favor metal over flexible pouches. Southern canneries integrate in-house seaming and vacuum-testing, creating turnkey demand for new neck-down formats targeted at small-family households. National Halal Committee grants and expedited customs clearance encourage more SMEs to enter, widening the customer base for specialty can suppliers. With Muslim global seafood consumption rising, halal volume commitments provide Thai mills predictable runs that smooth seasonal variability in beverage demand.

Government Push for Circular-economy Aluminium

The National Plastic Waste Management Roadmap embeds Extended Producer Responsibility, awarding fee reductions to packages that hit ≥ 70% post-consumer recovery-an easy threshold for beverage cans that already achieve 78% informal-sector pickup rates. The Draft Sustainable Packaging Act under consultative review channels recycling levies into a central fund earmarked for curbside material-recovery pilots. Aluminum’s infinite recyclability and high scrap value make it a headline beneficiary, prompting fillers to shift SKUs from glass and PET into metal. Provincial grant programs inside the Eastern Economic Corridor subsidize bodymaker upgrades that cut energy per thousand cans by 11%, further improving circularity metrics that brand owners showcase in ESG reports. The momentum cements aluminum as the default for premium beverages and many ambient-stable foods across the Thailand metal packaging market.

Rising Price Volatility of Rolled Steel Coil

Benchmark HRC prices track construction demand swings and geopolitical energy shocks, pushing coil quotes beyond converters’ cost-plus contracts on short notice. Steel-can makers carry thicker inventories or buy futures, tying up working capital that could otherwise fund efficiency retrofits. When spikes overlap with fixed-price tenders to tuna or paint fillers, margin compression hits fastest on domestically owned plants that lack global purchasing scale. Aluminum price curves have shown steadier climbs, nudging some food packers into metal substitution. Unless upstream mills stabilize supply with longer-term index deals, Thailand’s steel-can capacity risks attrition as converters rationalize older coating lines.

Substitution by Bio-polymer Pouches in Sauces

Local condiment brands increasingly pilot mono-material pouches marketed as “easy-tear and lighter to carry,” eroding share in small-format tomato and chili sauces where steel cans once dominated. ^{[2]Thai FDA, “Update of Food Contact Packaging Regulation,” fda.go.th}
Import duties on bio-based resins have been cut since 2024, narrowing cost differentials versus tinplate. Retailers favor stand-up pouches for shelf density, and quick-service chains appreciate portion control. While metal still owns high-heat processing niches, headspace-reduced pouches now pass ambient shelf-life tests, accelerating trial rates. The threat intensifies as certification schemes validate chemical-recycling loops that bolster the pouches’ green credentials.

Segment Analysis

By Material Type: Aluminum Drives Sustainability Transition

Aluminum captured a commanding 74.56% of the Thailand metal packaging market share in 2024, and its 4.41% forecast CAGR ensures the substrate will widen its lead through 2030. UACJ’s 320,000-ton mill supplies light-gauge coil that Crown, Ball, and Thai Beverage Can draw into bodies consumed by breweries and energy-drink brands. Aluminum’s infinite recyclability resonates with circular-economy levies, and scrap yields north of 90% lower life-cycle emissions in life-cycle assessments.  

Thailand metal packaging market buyers give aluminum premium preference on export-grade pet food and halal seafood lines where dent resistance, salty-brine compatibility, and regulatory traceability are paramount. Steel retains relevance on commodity paints, lubricants, and budget condensed-milk lines where price sensitivity overrides sustainability messaging. Still, national EPR fees are expected to rise from 2026, gradually tipping cost-of-ownership math toward aluminum even in value categories. The substrate’s consolidated supply chain allows converters to hedge raw-material risk through long-term offtake deals, keeping capacity-addition economics attractive despite global price firming.

By Product Type: Cans Dominate Premium Positioning

Cans represented 58.93% of Thailand metal packaging market size in 2024 and will grow 4.36% annually through 2030, cementing their role as the workhorse container for drinks and ambient-stable foods. Sleek and slim can adoption by brewers and energy-drink players boosts brand differentiation, and lightweighting lowers logistics costs without sacrificing strength.  

Food can demand climbs in tandem with Thailand’s aspiration to rank within the global top-10 processed-food exporters by 2027, prompting fillers of coconut milk, curry paste, and canned pineapple to lock in long-haul shelf life via double-seam ends. Aerosol cans face compliance investment linked to volatile organic-compound capture, while drums, pails, and closures track slower industrial sectors. Academic trials on shape memory aluminum suggest future opportunities for resealable ends, further entrenching can technology as the innovation focal point in the Thailand metal packaging market.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By End-user Vertical: Food Segment Emerges as Growth Leader

Beverages accounted for 42.35% of revenue in 2024, but the food vertical is set to deliver a 4.29% CAGR, the highest within the Thailand metal packaging market. Export-oriented pet-food recipes and halal seafood SKUs require high-barrier cans that withstand retorting and multiple transshipments.  

Domestic convenience trends support ready meals and condensed milk in two-piece cans, and e-grocery baskets feature long-shelf products that avoid cold-chain costs. Paints, chemicals, and automotive oils maintain predictable baseline volumes, yet margin pools here depend heavily on coil cost movements. The mix shift into food enhances aluminum utilization since protein-rich fillings risk sulfur corrosion in steel unless costly epoxy liners are applied.

Segment Analysis: By Product Type

Central Thailand hosts the largest converter cluster, leveraging Bangkok’s consumer density and proximity to Laem Chabang port for export dispatch. Eastern Economic Corridor capacity is the fastest growing, buoyed by tax holidays, deep-sea terminals, and rail upgrades that cut inland freight by 12%. ^{[3]World Bank Group, “Market Study for Thailand: Plastics Circularity,” worldbank.org}

Northern provinces supply agro-processors packing sweet corn, pineapple, and mixed fruit into cans destined for Japan and the United States. Southern coastal plants handle halal-certified seafood, while proximity to fishing docks minimizes spoilage and keeps steel subsidies viable. secondary cities lag on recovery logistics; only 17.6% national recycling performance stems from these gaps, curbing post-consumer scrap returns.  

Infrastructure projects scheduled to complete by 2027 will extend material-recovery zones beyond the EEC, giving converters wider scrap pools and reinforcing circular-economy targets. Until then, supply-demand balancing remains more efficient in Central and Eastern hubs where mill, converter, and filler co-location trims inventory days-on-hand across the Thailand metal packaging market.