Cellulosic packaging – Data 2015

Oct 16, 2016

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Among European producer countries, Italy has a prime position, standing in second place in the corrugated board and printed packaging segments. The final report for 2015 gives a balance of the different segments

Cellulosic packaging continues to play a key role in the packaging of goods (food and other) and in handling of the same. The sector is divided into several types that differ in function of use, format and material: corrugated cardboard boxes, folding cardboard cartons, large paper bags, shopper bags, paper bags, cellulose drums, cardboard boxes of medium/high thickness, laminated cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, cardboard tubes etc.
According to data from Eurostat, in 2015 the paper and converting industry in Europe (28 countries) consisted of some 18,100 companies employing 478,000 workers, generatimng a total turnover of 98.4 billion euros.
In 2015 the global production of paper and cardboard-converting industry accelerated, especially in the second half of the year, growing by 1.3% compared to 2014 in quantitative terms, set against a 2% increase in turnover.

Italy: facts and figures in 2015
Among European producer countries, Italy occupies a prime position in the corrugated board and printed packaging segments, standing in second place.
Italy’s papermaking industry is hence very strong and is positioned third in the European ranking.
Nationally, taking overall packaging production as 100, cellulosic packaging amounts to 32.5% (23.8% of which corrugated board), with 4,942 t/000 produced (+ 1.9% compared to 2014).
After a successful two-year period, in 2015 Italy’s exports slowed down (+ 0.7%); similar considerations apply to imports which, after the exploits of 2014 (+ 16%), increased by only 1.5%.
If in general, domestic consumption grew by 2.1%, Italian made products impacted on the overall figure at a rate of +2%. Out of total production of cellulose packaging, considered in terms of weight, corrugated cardboard accounts for 73.2%, followed by folding and flat board boxes, that account for 15.5%, with high capacity bags at 3.8%, other categories accounting for the remaining 7.5%.

2015 balance in the various sectors Corrugated cardboard boxes
Faced with an increase in both exports and domestic demand, in 2015 the production of corrugated cardboard packaging increased by 1.4% against 2014, reaching 3,620 t/000.
The use of corrugated cardboard is attributable 57.6% to the food and beverage sector (in particular to the fresh produce segment). The remaining 42.4% is spread over the various different markets: furnishing (13%), followed by the chemical industry, electronics, construction, and other non-food products.

Cases and boxes in flat board
Flat board is predominantly used for folding cases (82.9%) and to a much lower extent (17.1%) for producing boxes.
If as much as half of the folding boxes are made entirely of cardboard, the remaining 50% - though the figure shows an upward trend - combines the cellulosic component with PE or aluminium film, which confers characteristics suitable to particular requirements of use or image on the carton (for example to accentuate the premium appearance of the pack).
In 2015 the total production of flat board packaging amounted to 764 t/000 (up 4.5% on the previous year).
The use of cases and folding cartons can be broken down as follows: 47% in food packaging, 16.2% in beverage (essentially clusters), 10.2% in Cosmofarma, 26.6% for other non-food categories.
Cardboard boxes proper are mainly (56%) used for the footwear, leather goods, and clothing sector.

High capacity paper bags
After a long downturn, caused by the crisis which involved almost all manufacturing sectors, particularly the construction industry, from 2013 onwards the market for big paper bags began a slow recovery that continued into 2014. However, in 2015 the production suffered a further setback (-3.1%), due to a significant drop in exports (-17.1%), only partially offset by growth in Italian domestic consumption (+ 6.2%).
The ultra-capacious paper bags are employed 64.1% in the construction industry; the remaining 35.9% in the animal feed market, food industry or for other uses.

Other types
Among other families of cellulose packaging we find the shopper bags, cardboard tube packaging and accessories, wrapping paper (parchment, plasticized and simple), support sheets for clothing, the micro corrugated protection sheet, pouches and small cellulose drums.
What with the recovery in domestic demand and exports, global production of this macro-area, which amounted to 369 t/000 in 2015, grew by 4.5% compared to 2014.