Demand for Folding Paperboard Boxes to Reach $12.8 Billion in 2022

Demand for folding paperboard boxes is expected to grow 3.9% per year through 2022 to $12.8 billion. In 2018, the Trump administration levied a 10% tariff on folding cartons from China that was scheduled to increase to 25% on January 1, 2019; however, in December 2018, China and the US agreed on a temporary suspension of tariff increases. If tariffs continue to rise as planned, they will result in increases in domestic production as well as a more rapid transition to flexible packaging formats. These and other trends are presented in Corrugated & Paperboard Boxes, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

The US maintains a trade deficit in folding paperboard boxes that accounted for about 5% of demand in 2017:

• By value, Canada supplies almost half of the folding cartons imported to the US due to its geographic proximity and abundant forestry resources and processing facilities.
• China is the second largest source of folding cartons – in both volume and value terms – because the country’s low manufacturing costs offset the cost of shipping these products.

Demand for all types of corrugated and paperboard boxes (i.e., corrugated and solid fiber, folding paperboard and set-up paperboard) is forecast to increase 2.6% annually to $42.5 billion in 2022. Nearly half of all new demand will stem from the large food and beverage market, and 16% of new box sales will derive from the small but rapidly growing e-commerce segment.

Corrugated & Paperboard Boxes (published 01/2019, 212 pages) is available for $5500 from The Freedonia Group. Please link citations to https://www.freedoniagroup.com/Corrugated-Paperboard-Boxes.html