Researcher Smithers Pira forecasts the corrugated board packaging market will be valued at $269 billion within the next five years.
Its latest report says consumers will be using 160 million tonnes of board by 2021, partly due to the fact electrical goods and processed foods are outpacing growth in fresh foods/ produce and paper products such as office paper.
Smithers Pira says cost will remain the core motivator for changes in the corrugated packaging industry – and this will not be restricted to raw material production alone.
A recent study of the use of rigid plastic containers (RPCs) in tomato delivery in Mexico showed that corrugated board can be far more cost-effective despite the re-usability of RPCs.
“Macroeconomic influences of course exert some influence on the demand for corrugated board packaging, including issues such as urbanisation, growing disposable incomes in emerging economies, ageing and growing populations, smaller family units,” says Stephen Harrod, author of the report.
“However, industry-specific trends and drivers tend to exert greater and more direct influence on the market.”
Regionally, the market has seen a distinct shift eastwards, with Asia’s market share blooming from just over 40 per cent in 2009 to over 46 per cent in 2015.
This is likely to continue over the medium term, with the region accounting for more than half of the global market by 2021.
The ongoing penetration of internet shopping into consumer behaviour is seeding a spate of innovation in the corrugated market, with companies taking on the challenge of what they term ‘frustration-free’ packaging, as well as corrugated producers designing clever ways of ensuring the safe transportation of goods via the postal service to reduce the cost of delivery by courier and enable easy returns.
