Demand for corrugated boxes increase
World demand for corrugated boxes is forecast to increase 4,2 percent per year to 234 billion square meters in 2017.
Greater interest in corrugated packaging as a point-of-sale display in retail applications will also boost demand for value-added corrugated boxes.
Food and beverages will remain the leading market for corrugated boxes in 2017, accounting for 43 percent of global demand.
Gains will be limited by the mature state of the corrugated box industry in developed areas such as the US, Western Europe, and Japan, where boxes are essentially commodity items used in well-established markets.
In addition, corrugated boxes also face competition from reusable plastic shipping crates and other types of plastic packaging. Nonetheless, corrugated boxes will benefit from their environmentally friendly image as they are a renewable resource that can be recycled. In addition, boxes have advantages compared to plastic crates —- especially considering that the usage of plastic crates typically involves cleaning and return costs.
These trends are presented in World Corrugated Boxes, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.