Food and general line can shipments in the US dipped for a third consecutive quarter,
a sign that the pandemic-linked boom in demand for metal packaging may have come to an end.

Shipments of food, general line and aerosol cans in the third quarter (3Q) fell 7.8% to 9.3 billion,
the latest figures from the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) show. The year-to-date decline was bigger,
falling 8.4% to 23.2bn.

General line can volumes, including aerosol cans and non-food packaging such as paint, varnish and automotive products, took the greatest hit with a 8.7% decline. By product, the greatest fall was seen among cans for tinned fruit, which was down 14.6% to 404bn.
The biggest category, cans for vegetables, was down 13.2% to 3.52bn units shipped, a fall that has been attributed to a smaller pack this year.

The statistics tie in with recent financial reports from canmakers that show declining volumes of food cans.
the country’s largest provider of metal food packaging said Q3 volumes were down 10%, greater than the market forecast of a 4-5% dip. The CMI data showed some categories bucked the downward trend. Shipments for canned coffee rose 95% in Q3 to 19bn and 130% for the year-to-date to 62.5bn. Also strong were canned soups and miscellaneous foods, up 8.1% to 1.18bn units shipped.

Cans for pet foods, which have been a growing category for some time, had a marginal decline
of 3% for the quarter to 2.19bn units and 1.5% for the year.

The CMI data is drawn from : canmaker.com