Thailand Plastic Packaging Films Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends and Forecast (2026 - 2031)

Thailand Plastic Packaging Films Market Trends and Insights

Rising Demand for Lightweight Packaging Solutions

Brand owners trimmed average pack weight 12% from 2022 to 2025 by swapping 80-micron multilayer laminates for 60-micron monomaterial PE that retains tensile strength through biaxial orientation and slip-additive chemistries.^{[1]SCG Packaging, “Technical Report 2024,” SCGPACKAGING.COM} The change eliminated 4,800 tonnes of resin a year, easing EPR cost exposure while protecting shelf life for salty snacks and dry foods.^{[2]Pollution Control Department, “Plastic Waste Management Roadmap 2018-2030,” PCD.GO.TH} Converters pumped THB 2.1 billion into precision extrusion lines capable of 40-micron cast polypropylene, generating coefficients of friction below 0.25, enabling 120-cycle-per-minute form-fill-seal runs for condiment sachets. Lightweight structures now occupy 38% of all flexible film output, up from 29% in 2020, as multinationals harmonize ASEAN specs for scale. Commodity film makers that cannot hold ±3% thickness tolerances face tightening margins and potential M&A as integrated peers dominate high-speed downgauging contracts.

Surging Demand Across Diverse Consumer Goods Categories

Thailand’s consumer goods turnover rose 6.8% in 2025, fueled by rising provincial incomes and a 14% jump in modern-trade stores, which now total 18,200 nationwide. Personal- and home-care pouches consumed 52,000 tonnes of flexible films in 2025, with refill packs for detergents and shampoos advancing 9.2% yearly as apartment dwellers favor space-saving packages. Pet food exports required 11,400 tonnes of high-barrier films, relying on oxygen permeability below 10 cc/m²-day to maintain kibble for 18 months. UHT milk pouches for school programs climbed 7.4% in 2025, specified with aluminum-foil/PE/EVOH laminates to keep milk shelf-stable for rural distribution. Confectionery twist-wrap OPP films hit 8,900 tonnes as Thailand shipped USD 1.2 billion of candy across ASEAN and the Middle East.

E-commerce Boom Accelerating Flexible Pack Adoption

Online GMV touched USD 21 billion in 2023, and every food-delivery order still needs a bag or pouch, pushing 18,600 tonnes of LDPE mailers and 6,700 tonnes of anti-fog produce films in 2025.^{[3]Electronic Transactions Development Agency, “E-commerce Report 2025,” ETDA.OR.TH} E-tailers invested THB 840 million in algorithms that right-size packs, shaving 28% void fill and THB 340 million in film costs yearly. Cross-border e-commerce to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore surged 31%, forcing converters to deliver compostable films that satisfy diverse landfill-diversion laws.

Government-Backed Bio-Economy Roadmap Incentivising Bio-Based Films

The 12th National Plan earmarked THB 15 billion for bioplastic infrastructure and set a 500,000-tonne capacity target by 2030. PTT Global Chemical’s 75,000-tonne PLA plant already supplies compostable resins for pouches and mailers and will lift output to 100,000 tonnes by 2027. Eight-year tax holidays lure converters that process cassava- and sugarcane-based feedstocks, pulling THB 6.2 billion of pledged capex in 2024. While bio-films held only 3.8% of 2025 volume, EU SUPD premiums of 15-20% entice exporters, and looming EPR rules mandating 30% recycled or bio content by 2028 will deepen local adoption once composting capacity expands beyond the current 14 industrial sites.

Stringent Government Regulations on Single-Use Plastics

The Plastic Waste Management Roadmap outlawed Oxo-degradable films in 2021 and banned plastic waste imports in January 2025, removing 84,000 tonnes of low-cost feedstock for domestic recyclers. The draft EPR Act under Cabinet review will add roughly THB 2.40 per kilogram to brand owners’ costs, encouraging paper or reusable substitutes. Tourist provinces enacted stricter bans on plastic bags and straws, shifting 3,200 tonnes of film demand to higher-priced compostable options. Authorities levied THB 18.6 million in fines during 2025 crackdowns, pushing retailers toward certified monomaterial films for compliance.

Volatile Feedstock (Naphtha) Prices Pressuring Margins

Asian naphtha averaged USD 686 per tonne in Q1 2024, swinging 22% peak-to-trough, which cascaded through polyethylene and polypropylene pricing. HDPE fell from USD 1,029 to USD 946 per tonne over nine months, but converters locked into annuity contracts could not pass costs, slicing margins 8.1%. Twenty-two smaller converters shut in 2025 because they lacked hedging and working capital buffers. Forecasts for 2026 place HDPE between USD 850-950 per tonne, sustaining consolidation momentum as resin-integrated majors leverage cost immunity.

Segment Analysis

By Resin Type: Polyethylene Holds Sway as Bioplastics Accelerate

Polyethylene captured 42.31% of the Thailand plastic packaging films market in 2025, driven by LDPE stretch wraps and LLDPE stand-up pouches supplied through long-running extrusion assets clustered around Map Ta Phut. Biaxially oriented PET maintained 16.2% share, fed by Polyplex Thailand’s 42,000-tonne thin-gauge and 28,800-tonne thick-gauge lines. Polypropylene’s 22.8% slice reflects cast and BOPP expansions that target confectionery overwraps growing in double digits. Bioplastics, although only 3.8% of 2025 tonnage, will grow at a 5.43% CAGR on EPR quotas and EU export demand, flattening the cost gap as PLA capacity scales locally. Other high-barrier polymers such as EVOH and polyamide filled 14.6% of demand for seafood and pharma packs.

Rising sustainability premiums allow converters to extract healthy margins on bio-films while maintaining volume dominance in cost-effective PE. Strategic tie-ups with resin majors support agile grade switching during naphtha turbulence. To defend share against bio-polymers, PE suppliers roll out mono-PE structures with functional coatings that meet recyclability and barrier thresholds.

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

By Packaging Format: Wraps Surge Ahead of Pouches in Growth Stakes

Pouches retained top billing with 48.54% volume because form-fill-seal automation, spouts, and zippers cater to space-constrained households and export pet food. Yet wraps and overwraps will log the fastest 5.85% CAGR as e-commerce hubs escalate stretch-film and shrink-bundle consumption. Bags and linings at 32.7% now face bag-ban headwinds, but courier mailer demand partially offsets declines. A tail of wicketed bags, zipper formats, and vacuum-skin packs round out 18.8% of output.

Inventory buffers for e-commerce fulfillment centers drive larger production runs of blown LDPE, while pouch converters pivot toward high-barrier laminates for seafood and powdered beverages. As logistics operators push automated stretch-film systems that pre-stretch 250%, wrap makers embed metallocene resins to cut gauge without sacrificing pallet stabilization.

By Film Functionality: Monomaterial Trend Reshapes Barrier Economics

Low-barrier monomaterial designs dominated with 58.54% share thanks to favorable recyclability narratives. High-barrier multilayers will, however, chalk up a 5.12% CAGR as seafood exporters must achieve oxygen rates below 5 cc/m²-day and pharma clients demand sub-0.5 g/m²-day moisture. Metallized films serve snack and coffee packs at 18.3% share, while active and antimicrobial variants, just 3.9% of tonnage, expand 6.8% annually on cold-chain rollout.

Policy shifts toward circularity push converters to combine mono-PE substrates with functional coatings and nano-clay fillers that meet EU and Japanese recyclability tests. Nevertheless, ultra-low oxygen specifications for tuna and sterile pharma packs still rely on EVOH or polyamide layers, anchoring multilayer growth and supporting specialized co-extrusion investments.

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

By End-Use Industry: Healthcare Races Ahead of Food

Food kept the lion’s share at 32.43% in 2025, spanning anti-fog produce films, high-barrier frozen shrimp pouches, and retail candy wraps. Healthcare and pharma volumes will rise the quickest at 6.03% CAGR, propelled by the EEC medical-hub strategy that boosts blister foil and sterile pouch demand. Beverage packs absorbed 14.6%, riding RTD coffee and milk growth. Personal- and home-care accounted for 19.8%, energized by pouch refills that slice unit price points. Industrial uses, chiefly stretch wrap and valve sacks, contributed 12.4% and tie into large public-works spending. Electronics, agriculture, and construction films made up the residual 20.8%.

Converter accreditation under ISO 15378 gives early movers an edge in high-value healthcare contracts, while food brands lean on recyclable mono-PE to satisfy export buyers. A diversified end-use mix shields the Thailand plastic packaging films market from single-sector downturns, but also raises technical demands across oxygen, moisture, and static-dissipative requirements.

Geography Analysis

Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard industrial belt houses 68% of flexible-film capacity, leveraging seamless resin supply from Map Ta Phut crackers and deep-sea export terminals. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region remains the single biggest demand node, accounting for 42% of consumption through dense modern-trade networks and 840 million e-commerce orders in 2025. The EEC has drawn THB 8.4 billion in film investments since 2022, largely for cleanroom conversion that serves medical-device and electronics exporters.

Southern provinces such as Songkhla, Phuket, and Surat Thani consumed 18.6% of output by feeding frozen-seafood processors that ship 620,000 tonnes abroad annually and require ultra-barrier laminates. The north around Chiang Mai and Lamphun took 12.4% as HDD and integrated-circuit clusters specify ESD films and moisture pouches. Government tax discounts for provinces beyond the main corridors lured THB 2.1 billion into facilities in Nakhon Ratchasima and Khon Kaen from 2023-2025.

Exports form a vital pressure valve, 22% of film shipments in 2025 crossed ASEAN borders, with Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia together absorbing two-thirds. Zero tariffs under ATIGA spur scale, yet diverging plastic-waste laws force converters to juggle conventional and compostable SKUs for each destination.