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Report: Paper products manufacturing to reach US$1341B by 2020

Nov. 14, 2017 – Growth is accelerating in the global market for paper products. Worth US$1195 billion in 2016, having grown at 1.8 per cent year-on-year since 2012, it is now growing at a rate more than 50 per cent higher, and will be worth £1341 billion in 2020. The speeding up will be particularly strongly marked in the Americas, where growth will triple, rising from 0.8 per cent a year to 2.4 per cent.

These results come from the new market report, Paper Products Manufacturing Market Global Briefing 2017, from research consultancy The Business Research Company (TBRC).

Of the two major segments of the global paper products market, the smaller, converted paper products manufacturing, which produces corrugated and solid fibre boxes, folding paperboard boxes, paper bags, stationery and so on has been growing faster at 2.2 per cent annually. However, the larger paper, news print and paper board market, which accounts for just under two-thirds of global industry revenues, is now growing equally fast.

While the market for paper products in the Americas is large, worth $315 billion in 2016, it is significantly outweighed by the Asian market, which was worth nearly half of the total in that year. The Asian market will also be growing at the fastest rate of any big region to 2020.

Technological development will be key for success going forward. In both segments, automation to cut production costs and keep prices low will be critical. In the converted paper products market, however, technological improvements to the products themselves will be equally important. For example, companies in the food and pharmaceutical companies are looking for packaging that will extend product shelf life, monitor freshness, maintain quality, and improve safety and convenience. They will be more likely to buy intelligent packaging that can convey product information such as the expiry date, product status and product changes.

Growing awareness of the impact of deforestation on the environment has led to paper manufacturing companies opting for alternative sources for paper production. Recycling paper products both allows paper manufacturers to save on raw material costs and claim green credentials. In another green development in the paper industry, biomass produced as a by product is enabling the companies to generate electricity for their manufacturing activities.