The Hidden Strain on Flexible Packaging: Rising Costs and Fragile Supply Chains
Published on September 16, 2025
September 16, 2025
The Hidden Strain on Flexible Packaging: Rising Costs and Fragile Supply Chains
The flexible packaging industry is growing but behind the headlines of market expansion lies a more sobering reality. Converters are under unprecedented pressure.
- Rising Raw Material Costs
The prices of core inputs like polypropylene, polyethylene, paper, and aluminum foil have been climbing. Global supply disruptions and reduced availability mean converters are paying more just to stay competitive.
- Supply Chain Fragility
Extended lead times from Asia, coupled with limited U.S. capacity for specialized materials (like thin-gauge foil), are forcing converters to rethink how they operate. Many are shifting from lean models to holding “buffer stock.” While this ensures supply, it also ties up capital and raises warehousing costs.
- Innovation vs. Financial Strain
Converters must invest in digital printing, sustainable materials, and smart packaging to meet consumer and regulatory demands. But with raw material costs rising and supply chains strained, finding the budget for innovation is increasingly difficult.
These challenges don’t exist in isolation. Instead, they compound each other, creating a multi-layered problem for converters — and reshaping the industry’s competitive landscape.
👉 In our next post, we’ll dive into how tariffs — particularly Trump-era policies — have amplified these challenges and reshaped the global supply chain.
How is your company balancing the need for innovation with the rising costs of raw materials and fragile supply chains? Contact Now Plastics to explore customized solutions.