The eco—friendly cotton bags are anticipated to overtake plastic bags in the retail sector during the forecast period. The increasing availability of decorated cotton bags is inciting people to increasingly adopt cotton bags. Cotton bags have high printability & shelf appeal as compared to plastic bags.

Plastic bags ban is projected to fuel the demand for cotton bags

As per the Wall Street Journal, only about 1% of all plastic bags are re—cycled every year, the rest are dumped into landfills. Increasing intolerance towards plastic bags has resulted in governments across the world levying regulations limiting the usage of plastic bags.

This, in turn, has been a key factor driving the growth of the global market for cotton bags. Plastic bags are banned in Washington, San Fran—cisco, Seattle and Boston. This particular factor is anticipated to increase the demand for cotton bags in the United States during the forecast period.

China, India and Australia have levied high taxes on the use of plastic bags, which in turn, will create excellent opportunities for the key players operating in the Asia Pacific cotton bags market. In 2017, Kenya pushed a country—level ban on plastic bags, which directly affected the distributors and producers of single—use plastic bags.

The ban on plastic bags has been helpful in creating a white space for new entrants in the cotton bags market. Growing developments which have been promoting research in the field of automatic bag making machines are also anticipated to positively impact the production of cotton bags.

Jute bags are expected to hamper the growth of cotton bags market

End users are getting attracted towards jute bags as they are an eco—nomic and functional alternative to cotton bags. Jute bags provide moisture and chemical resistance properties and thus, provide a suitable solution for the packaging of food and chemical products.

Biodegradable bag manufacturers are focusing on the manufacturing of jute bags owing to their low—cost production. Jute bags are also lighter in weight and relatively more affordable and thus, end users are expected to adopt jute and hemp bags instead of cotton bags.

That apart, the use of paper bags for retail purposes is gradually increasing as paper bags are recyclable, lighter and inexpensive. This factor is also anticipated to negatively impact the cotton bags market during the forecast period.

According to the UN Comtrade Database 2015, China,France, Italy and Hong Kong China are the biggest global ex—porters of cotton bags. China leads the way in terms of export of cotton bags. North America and Europe are the two top export destinations for cotton bags, which can directly be at—tributed to high demand for cotton bags from supermarkets and food industry in the regions.

Government subsidiaries in terms of taxes and resources will act as crucial drivers for the development of the cotton bags market in India and ASEAN countries.

Key players in the market

Some of the key players operating in the global cotton bags market are as follows: Bag Makers, Inc., Hubco, Inc., Cen—tral Bag Company, JohnPac, LLC, Aaltex International, Pearl Bag Factory LLP, Richie Bags Fashions Pvt. Ltd., Green Pack—aging Industries Private Limited, Gouda, Inc., Direct Trade Bags Company Ltd.