India Paper and Paperboard Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

India Paper and Paperboard Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Indian paper and paperboard packaging market was valued at USD 10.77 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach USD 15.69 Billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.63% during the forecast period of 2022-2027.

• The paper and paperboard packaging business experienced growth over the last decade, owing to changes in substrate choice, expansion of new markets, changing ownership dynamics, and government initiatives to ban plastic. Sustainability and environmental issues continue to be emphasized, and various innovations catering to paper and paper board packaging are expected to drive market growth in India.
• India's paper and paperboard packaging industry proliferates and spans various end-user segments, such as food and beverages, healthcare, personal care, and household care. Strong favorable demographics aside, factors like growing disposable income levels, increasing consumer awareness, and demand for processed food are the key drivers impacting the growth of the paper and paperboard packaging industry.
• With a considerable increase in organized retail, the demand for paper packaging is expected to increase due to the rapid increase in supermarkets and modern shopping centers. Furthermore, in June 2022, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a federal agency under the Ministry of the Environment, released a list of steps to be taken to outlaw specific single-use plastic products by June 2022. Such measures are expected to drive the demand for paper packaging in the country.
• In India, there are comparatively fewer companies manufacturing modern equipment that is used for packaging. Since the packing equipment is purchased from other countries, the cost of the equipment is very high. Since in India, the manufacturing of packaging equipment is less when the demand for purchasing equipment grows, there is expected to be a lack of purchasing the equipment from other countries.
• The packaging industry witnessed some significant issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the effects of the nationwide lockdown, companies moving to source away from China, and reconsidering materials used in packaging. Although the supply side of paper packaging witnessed a significant impact, a drastic increase in the end user demand in some applications significantly expanded the scope of the paper and paperboard packaging solutions, such as corrugated boxes, folding cartons, and many more.

• Corrugated boxes are multi-layered rigid boxes made from two sheets of paper called liners, glued to either side of a corrugated inner 'fluting' that consists of connected arches, allowing for greater strength and resistance. The corrugated board can be cut and folded to produce a custom-manufactured container and then printed using various print methods depending on run size and design needs.
• Corrugated packaging is mainly used as a shipping container for multiple industries and point-of-purchase displays and pallets. The boxes come in different flutes. The wavy layer of paper in the middle of a corrugated board gives rigidity, strength, and stackability. These flutes range from A to F. The C flute is the most frequently used, offering a good printing surface, crush resistance, and compression properties to secure products such as glassware, food products, etc.
• In addition, the boxes are also classified based on board styles, such as single surface, single wall, double wall, and triple wall. To meet such requirements, Gulf Carton Factory offers corrugated boxes ranging from A to F and a combination of flutes, such as BC and EB.
• Distribution/e-commerce showed the fastest growth, leading to the growth of the corrugated boxes segment of the market studied. E-commerce plays a pivotal role in driving box shipments. Changes in consumer behavior, like ordering products from mobile phones—which never existed two decades ago—are rapidly driving e-commerce growth.
• The corrugated boxes industry in India is dominated by MSMEs equipped with more than 400 automatic corrugators and more than 10,000 semi-automatic units. The industry has been under the immense pressure of unprecedented cost escalation of kraft paper and reluctant supply chain dislocation for the past two years.

• The food and beverage sector in India is growing owing to growing awareness, convenient access, and changing lifestyles, fuelling the growth of this sector in India. For instance, in 2021, the Trade Commissioner Service in India, in collaboration with Amazon, developed a Canadian store on the Amazon India platform, a Canada-specific landing, and an e-commerce website highlighting Canadian Agri and Agri-food products accessible in the market. The Amazon site now includes more than 10 Canadian goods. The dedicated online store is expected to serve as a one-stop shop for Canadian products on one of India's largest e-commerce marketplaces.
• Additionally, Reliance Brands established a strategic relationship with worldwide fresh food and organic coffee chain Pret A Manger in July 2022 to launch and expand the brand in India. With this long-term master franchise arrangement, RBL may expand the food chain across the country, beginning with major cities and transport hubs.
• In India, the grocery market is a traditional retail industry; therefore, online retail penetration is even lower. However, the food delivery and services market is fostering further growth in the country, with players, like Bigbasket, Grofers, Zomato, Swiggy, and Scootsy registering a rapid increase in sales. According to Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, the revenue of food delivery giant Swiggy surged 2.8 times in the last year between June 2020 and June 2021.
• Additionally, the Indian e-commerce industry, expected to reach USD 350 billion by 2030, is driving the growth of food packaging in the country. It has led to major players, like Amazon and Flipkart, entering the e-commerce space in food. Amazon has invested USD 35 million to enter this space. Flipkart has planned to invest USD 258 million to enter the retail food space.
• Food producers, especially prominent FMCG brands, have set ambitious targets to reduce the use of plastics in food packaging and adopt new eco-friendly materials. Therefore, paper-based packaging materials are becoming increasingly popular in India.
• Furthermore, according to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, in 2021, the retail sales value of dairy food in the Indian packaged foods market accounted for USD 25.10 billion. There was a consistent and significant increase in retail sales value within the packaged food sector. Such increased growth is expected to drive the demand for paper packaging products in India.
• SafePack Solutions provides packaging solutions for moist or greasy food items such as ice cream, pizza, or cakes, whether fresh, dried, chilled, or frozen. It provides a variety of boards, such as white-lined chipboard, unlined chipboard, and solid bleached sulfate board, and it offers cost-effective packaging materials without compromising on quality.

The Indian paper and paperboard packaging market has many players in this region and is highly fragmented. Hence the market concentration of this market is low. With the rising demand for packaging applications, many companies are expanding their market presence by increasing their production facility and product portfolio. The major vendors of this market are WestRock India, Trident Paper Box Industries, and TGI Packaging Pvt. Ltd, Kapco Packaging, Avon Pacfo Services LLP, etc.

• September 2022 - WestRock Company, a sustainable paper and packaging solutions provider, acquired an HP PageWide T1190 Press to complement and expand its portfolio of corrugated printing capabilities. The HP PageWide T1190 Press is expected to enable WestRock to disrupt the corrugated packaging supply chain and offer superior value to its customers.
• March 2022 - Deliveroo, a global food delivery firm with operations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, announced the opening its India Engineering Centre in Hyderabad. Its multi-year strategy is to establish a new team focused on creating exceptional experiences for Deliveroo customers, restaurant and grocery partners, and delivery riders, as well as highly scalable, dependable, and inventive next-generation products for its global operations.

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