The Jordan packaging industry included around 705 establishments in the year 2009. The registered capital of these enterprises went up to 139 million Jordanian dinars in 2009, while it was just 120 million dinars in 2008. The Jordan chamber of industry recorded a 16 per cent increase in capital spend during this one year period. According to the reports of the Chamber, the packaging industry was worth 329 million Jordanian dinars in 2009, and recorded a growth rate of 7% compared to the previous couple of years.
The report further stated that aluminium packaging products were the most exported during 2008, and it came to around 106 million Jordanian dinars. Next to that was paper packaging products, which made a market of about 40 million dinars. Around 4 to 25 million dinars worth packaging products were exported, which included tissue paper, plastic bottles, napkins and paper bags.
The report also indicated towards the problems faced by the packaging industry. The major problems were related to human resources, operational cost, lack of trained labour, dearth of creative designers, finding skilled technicians, obtaining permission to bring foreign labour and restrictions to certain nationalities. High energy cost, availability of land and competitive market structure were the other problems that existed in the industry.
Adnan Abu Ragheb, Chairman of Jordan Printing and Packaging Academy confirmed that the industry is witnessing growth in various fields. He explained that the contracts entered and the investments made by the printing presses in Jordan during drupa 2012 amounted to around US$10 million.
Talking about the packaging and market trends in Jordan, Abu Ragheb said that the developments in digital technology had affected the activities of commercial printers and to an extent the offset market has been taken over by the digital trends. He added that the packaging industry covers a broad spectrum of products and will contribute effectively to fill the void created by the recession.
According to Abu Ragheb, the printing presses of Jordan is considering the possibility of entering the markets of Gulf, Africa and Iraq.
