UK aerosol sector fillings were up 5% in 2012 compared to 2011, according to the recently released British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA) annual report for 2012-13.
BAMA figures show that overall, UK aerosol industry filling figures rose for the third successive year: 1464.7 million units were filled in 2012, up from 1394.4 million in 2011 – which was itself a +9% increase on the equivalent figure for 2010.
Personal care
The largest single sector, anti-perspirants, deodorants & body sprays, showed strong growth, up 9.5% from 647.6 million units to 708.9 million units.
And within the personal products category, perfumes and colognes showed high growth of 73.7%, up year-on-year from 10 million to 17.4 million units.
BAMA believes the increase in both categories is in part due to the development of overseas export markets.
The suntan & bronzing sector showed a “steady rise”, up 17.9% from 1.7 million units to 2 million units.
“Whilst remaining relatively small, this sector has shown consistent growth since, as a new category, BAMA began reporting in 2007,” the report stated.
Hair products, including mousses and hair-sprays, showed “modest” growth of 1.1%, whereas shaving soaps, lathers and creams “declined slightly” by -1.7% – a downturn thought to be in part attributable to changing fashions and a general decline in frequent shaving.
Household
The household products sector saw an overall reduction of just under 2% year on year, largely due to a decline in air fresheners and insecticides fillings.
Air fresheners were down by -5.7%, although this remains a major segment of the aerosol market, with 2012 fillings of 172 million units (down from 182.4 in 2011).
The insecticides category was down -3.7%, while waxes and polishes also showed a “small decline” of -4.5%, to 28.7 million units from 30.1 million in 2011.
However oven cleaner fillings grew by 149.8% from 0.4 million to 0.9 million units, returning the sector to the same levels as 2008-2009.
Aerosol starches grew by 16.3% from 4.7 million to 5.5 million units said perhaps to show “a plateauing of a general decline noted over several years”.
And hard surface cleaners showed strong growth, having increased by 53.3%, from 8.5 million to 13.1 million units in 2012.
Other sectors
Vet/pet products show a growth of 7.1% from 2.6 million to 2.8 million units, while all other medical products were up by 8%.
Industrial aerosols grew significantly by 49.2%, up from 13.5 million to 20.2 million units, while paints & lacquers were also “buoyant” with a rise of 7.5% from 14 million to just over 15 million units.
The ‘miscellaneous’ category, which includes foodstuffs and novelties, nearly tripled, growing by 174.9%, up to 33.8 million units from only 12.3 million in 2011.
However the automotive aerosols sector filling figures fell by -23.5% from 42.3 million to 32.4 million units in 2012.
In the chief executive’s report, Dr John Morris, who has been in post for a year, discussed the impact of the 3rd Amendment to the Aerosols Dispensers Directive to bring it into line with CLP.
Dr Morris added that, as a result, BAMA will soon be issuing the latest (5th) amendment to the BAMA Standard.
