Global trade generally trended higher over the ten-year period, volume in 2025 at 5 million tons. Key regional changes over the period: much higher imports into Western Europe and North America; expanded exports out of Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe; and, increased intra-regional trade within virtually all regions. As bags and sacks are an important end-use for PE polymer, trade flows are expected to be impacted by the on-going the Middle East conflict, especially in Asia-Pacific.

Despite bans and other restrictions on PE bags and sacks in at least 100 countries, according to a 2018 UN Report, global trade in this category has generally expanded. The sharp drop in 2023 reflected the US government imposition of punitive tariffs on bags from China, a major supplier.

The top importing regions throughout the period were Western Europe, followed closely by North America, both with strong gains.

Asia-Pacific continued as the top exporting region. Shipments to all regions rose by 300,000 tons but higher volumes to North America and Latin America accounted for about 200,000 tons of the increase. Exports from Eastern Europe, which go almost entirely to Western Europe, expanded by nearly 260,000.

In addition to increased trade volume between regions, adding to rising global volume was the expansion in intra-regional trade in every world region with the exception of Africa.

In Asia-Pacific, severe shortages in PE polymer, particularly in Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, have forced producers to curtail bag production production and raise prices (Fortune, May 6, 2026).

From International Trader Publications’ PE Bag/Sacks World Trade Analysis, a continuously updated analysis of global trade based on latest statistics from all reporting countries.