AEROBOL indicates a 1.2% drop in 2021 aluminium aerosol cans shipments on weaker demand in EU & UK

AEROBAL, the international organisation representing aluminium aerosol cansmanufacturers, has reported a drop of 1.2 per cent in global aluminium aerosol container shipments to its members to around 5.6 billion units in 2021. As per the analysis, reduced demand in Europe was the main cause for the decline in shipments. 

However, in 2021, consumers for aluminium aerosol cans showed some variation compared to the previous year. Shipments to the end-use like hair mousses, shaving foams, and food markets reportedly doubled in some cases. But sales to the end-use like hair spray, sun care, pharmaceutical, disinfectant, household, and technical products recorded weaker, based on AEROBAL data. 

The organisation has reported that shipments to its main end-use industry – deodorants – stood majorly restrained year-on-year.

AEROBAL has also pointed out that reduced demand in the EU and the UK in 2021 was not unanimous across all regions. Shipments to the North and South American markets were mostly at the level of 2020, while deliveries to Asia and the Middle East showed a significant increase. 

Although there was a decline in shipments in 2021, Gregor Spengler, secretary general of the organisation, said that was rather a good result considering the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As for design trends in 2021, AEROBAL identifies a shift towards less complex can shapes, in a bid to reduce product weight. Additionally, the industry is focusing on cutting down the ecological footprint of cans by using optimised coating systems and further implementing targeted weight reductions.

Leopold Werdich, president of AEROBAL, explains: “Demand for sustainable packaging solutions remains high on customers’ agendas. The manufacturers of aluminium aerosol cans are delivering convincing concepts here.”

As an effort to achieving sustainability, AEROBAL bagged World Aluminum Aerosol Can Award in the category “the first aluminium aerosol can printed with an eco-friendly and sustainable printing ink.”

For the years ahead, AEROBAL predicts an optimistic market for the aluminium aerosol can industry. It says order intake in the first quarter of 2022 so far bodes well for manufacturers for the remaining first half of the year. At the same time, the organisation cautions that there are remaining challenges for the industry, as the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia conflict could be the causes of concerns.