High-strength corrugated paper consumption "appetite" wide open

With foreign capital entering the Chinese papermaking industry in a large scale, the production of domestic medium and high-end paper and paperboard has grown rapidly in the past two years. Products that consume more than the increase in production volume are rare, and high-strength corrugated paper is one of the most prominent. According to an authoritative department, it is predicted that by 2005, the supply and demand gap of high-strength corrugated paper in China will reach 1.6 million tons, which is one of the most investment-oriented paper and paperboard varieties.
During the period from 1990 to 1999, when the paper consumption in China grew at a high rate, the consumption of high-strength corrugated paper increased by nearly 30% annually, second only to coated white paperboard. In 2001, the consumption of high-strength corrugated base paper not only rose by 13.9% (the second largest increase in major paper products), reaching 295 thousand tons, but also became one of the few varieties where the growth of paper products was faster than the increase in output. Last year’s The demand gap has been expanded to 1.15 million tons. According to the "Tenth Five-year Plan" of the paper industry, the annual consumption of high-strength corrugated base paper in 2005 will reach 4.8 million tons.
The consumption demand for high-strength corrugated base papers has grown rapidly. The gap between supply and demand in the country is large. The situation of heavy dependence on imports is difficult to change in recent years.
Last year, China’s major imports of paper products fell significantly, while imports of high-strength corrugated paper increased by more than 13% to nearly 1.18 million tons, accounting for 21% of the total paper and board imports.
According to expert analysis, due to the low added value of corrugated paper for a long period of time, papermaking companies that produce packaging paperboards generally favor kraftlinerboards, whiteboards, and other products with high added value and high demand, resulting in a limited number of corrugated paper projects planned for expansion. . From the market point of view, corrugated paper is being developed in the direction of low quantification, high strength, and full specifications. The demand for medium-strength, high-strength corrugated base papers is large, and the price has risen.
At present, many companies in China have taken note of the market demand for high-strength corrugated paper and are doing everything possible to increase production capacity. In 2001, the production capacity of coated high-grade corrugated paper in Shandong Province has reached 280,000 tons; a large-scale project for the production of high-strength corrugated base paper using waste paper is planned and constructed in Jiangsu Province. The production capacity in 2005, 2010 and 2020 will be respectively It reached 200,000 tons, 400,000 tons and 1.3 million tons. Jiangsu Wuxi Rongcheng Paper Co., Ltd. signed a contract of RMB 911 million with the Huishan District Government of Wuxi City in 2001, invested RMB 41 million, and started the second phase project of high-strength corrugated paper with an annual output of 200,000 tons. Currently, it is still planning the third During the period, whether the project was built in Jiangsu or Zhejiang has not yet been finalized. Dongguan Nine Dragons Paper's development plan in Guangdong is to build 6 production lines and produce 2 million tons/year of packaging paper including high-strength corrugated base paper.
From the perspective of investment environment, Guangdong, especially the Pearl River Delta, is one of the largest packaging paper markets in China. However, due to the disorderly competition among corrugated paper manufacturers, it is not wise to reinvest production. Zhejiang, on the other hand, encourages the development of high-strength corrugated paper, prioritizes financial discounts, and enjoys preferential tax policies.
People in the industry believe that high-strength corrugated base papers with a large increase in consumer demand in China should be a focus of foreign investment when investing in paper or expanding production. According to customs statistics, due to tariff reductions, the import volume of high-strength corrugated base paper exceeded 34% in the first quarter of this year. However, given that the tariffs for corrugated paper have been adjusted, it is believed that there will be no greater impact on the domestic market.