Moderate domestic growth in the Austrian corrugated board industry
According to Forum Wellpappe Austria, the Austrian corrugated board industry was able to increase domestic sales in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year. Exports are declining.
20 August 2019
Corrugated board (Image: VDW)
According to Forum Wellpappe Austria, the Austrian corrugated board industry was able to increase domestic sales by 1.1 per cent in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year. Exports, on the other hand, are declining.
From January to June of this year, Austrian corrugated board companies produced a total of 515 million square metres of corrugated board in order to 1.2 per cent less compared to 2018. There are several reasons for this development, according to Max Hölbl, spokesman for Forum Wellpappe Austria.
Max Hölbl, spokesman for Forum Wellpappe Austria (Image: Forum Wellpappe Austria)
"This result must be seen against the backdrop of a extremely strong first half of 2018 see," says Hölbl. "We can still speak of very high capacity utilisation in the industry."
Display
Another reason for the slight decline in sales is the current Economic slowdown in Germany. "We are a strongly export-oriented industry and are therefore also dependent on the development of our neighbour. This means that our members' businesses are affected by minor economic fluctuations," says Hölbl.
Nevertheless, Max Hölbl remains optimistic. For the current year, he expects Forum Wellpappe Austria members to see an increase in sales of around 1 per cent. "This is due to a continuing heavy consumption and a tailwind for the industry from the growing E-commerce business. We are also seeing a trend towards more corrugated board instead of other packaging materials due to the issue of Sustainability."
(Image: Forum Wellpappe Austria)
Wellpappe is in vogue
"Corrugated cardboard packaging is the model pupil of the circular economy. It consists of 100 per cent renewable raw materials and is therefore completely biodegradable. Other packaging materials can only dream of this," says Max Hölbl and continues: "Corrugated board is light yet stable, can be printed in high quality and is ideally suited for the branded goods industry at the point of sale in supermarkets as well as for the booming online trade."
Best of Corrugated Board Austria Award
The product innovations for the annual Wellpappe Austria Award, the showcase for Austrian corrugated cardboard producers, demonstrate just how innovative and sustainable the Austrian corrugated cardboard industry is. With 49 Product innovations made of corrugated board, there was a record number of submissions recently.
The prize is awarded in six categories: from corrugated board creative to corrugated board constructive, corrugated board point of sale, corrugated board display, corrugated board sustainable and corrugated board newcomer. An expert jury nominates the best product solutions and the winners, who are entitled to take part in the WorldStar, the international award of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). The award ceremony will take place on 7 October 2019 at the CasaNova cabaret in Vienna.
[infotext icon]The Forum Corrugated Board Austria is the mouthpiece of the Austrian corrugated board industry with the member companies DS Smith Packaging Austria GmbH, Dunapack Mosburger GmbH, Mondi Grünburg GmbH, Rondo Ganahl Aktiengesellschaft, Smurfit Kappa Interwell GmbH & Co. KG and Steirerpack GmbH[/infotext].
