Plastic bags have become more expensive! Driven by the strictest "plastic ban", degradable plastics have ushered in new market prospects and also boosted the upstream raw material market. However, the current production capacity of raw materials lags far behind the market demand. This has also led to the high price of degradable plastic bags in supermarkets, a change that consumers who regularly shop there have clearly felt. The price of plastic bags that were once casually taken for packaging has gone up—previously, supermarket plastic bags cost 20 to 30 cents each, but now they range from 50 cents to 1 yuan. So what are the reasons for the high price of degradable shopping bags? Today, Xiamyu Technology will give you a brief overview:

1. Rising prices of raw materials for degradable shopping bagsThe main degradable materials currently used in the market are Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate (PBAT for short) and Polylactic Acid (PLA). At present, the price of one ton of PBAT is around 26,000 yuan, with a month-on-month increase of 13%. Meanwhile, the price of PLA has surged from 20,000 yuan per ton at the end of 2019 to about 40,000 yuan per ton now. Despite the sharp rise in the price of degradable raw materials, the order volume of enterprises continues to grow. The degradable plastic material market has huge potential for future development, which has attracted a lot of capital inflow in a short time. Nevertheless, the direction for the market's next step lies in innovation—further tapping the intrinsic value of degradable materials and developing more new degradable products.

2. Macroeconomic factors affecting the price of degradable plastic bags in supermarketsAs we all know, the global pandemic last year led to an economic downturn and reduced consumer purchasing power. The massive printing of US dollars triggered global inflation. After the large-scale economic stimulus measures last year, a chain reaction in the prices of all bulk commodities was inevitable in 2021. Earlier this year, prices of various metals such as steel and aluminum skyrocketed, and the demand for plastic bags also increased accordingly. Economic recovery has driven up purchasing power. As a new type of degradable product, supermarket degradable plastic bags involve high R&D costs. Additionally, plastic bag manufacturers need to purchase new equipment for the production and R&D of degradable plastic bags during their transformation process. These factors all contribute to the price increase of degradable plastic bags.

3. Global degradable plastics are still in the initial stage of industrialization, with significant capacity growth in ChinaIn the global market, the production capacity of biodegradable plastics was approximately 994,000 tons in 2019, with production facilities mainly concentrated in Asia, South America, and North America. In the domestic market, as policies banning and restricting non-degradable plastics are gradually implemented, the demand for degradable plastics is growing at an accelerating pace. Over the past five years, the average growth rate of biodegradable plastic consumption in China has been around 20%. In 2019, the production capacity of mainstream biodegradable plastics in China was about 370,000 tons per year, with an output of approximately 260,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%. The restriction on non-degradable plastic bags is also one of the factors leading to the severe shortage of supply to meet the demand for degradable plastic bags in supermarkets.

Article Title: What Are the Reasons for the High Price of Degradable Shopping Bags? URL: https://en.szxylp.com/news/industry-news/what-are-the-reasons-for-the-high-price-of-degradable-shopping-bags.html