The corrugated boxes market value is set to cross $284.6 billion by 2030 due to the rise in the convenient and lightweight packaging solutions demand in various industries and the proliferation of the offline retail and e-commerce sectors. The corrugated boxes serve as the supply chain’s backbone. During COVID-19, when most of the markets suffered, the demand for such packaging material experienced a rise due to an increase in demand for the boxes in China, U.S., Germany, and India. The increase in demand for these boxes is ascribed to the surge in the supply of goods to pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, and grocery stores.
The largest corrugated boxes market share has been captured by the C category, based on flute type, as it offers the massive stacking strength of the C flute, high-quality printing, good crush resistance, and suitability. In addition, the large-scale usage of the C-flute for shipping mainly for the packaging in glass products, furniture, and dairy products also expands the market. The surge in usage of these products leads to the dominance of the C flute in the market. It can also be used in combination with B and E flute types to produce double-wall boxes.
Under the board style segment, the single wall category contributes the highest revenue to the corrugated boxes market, owing to the rise in preference for single-wall corrugated boxes for carrying low-weight boxes. In addition, the ease in the transformation of single board corrugated boxes into boxes of any size, depending on the requirement of the industry, and higher flexibility leads to its rising demand in the market. Moreover, the inner and outer liners of the boards facilitate boxes with structural strength, and the flute absorbs the shocks during the transportation of goods.
The demand for slotted boxes is predicted to experience the fastest growth in the corrugated boxes market in the near future. One-piece corrugated boards are used for developing corrugated boxes, owing to higher flexibility providing ease in foldability. Slotted boxes are increasingly used for shipping fragile products as it includes separators or dividers that facilitate ease in organizing assorted items to enable minimum movement of goods inside the boxes. In addition, extra cushioning is offered by the fill-in pads and overlapping flaps to the products to ensure products are shipped with care.
The biggest reason behind the expanding demand for corrugated boxes is the growing packaging sector, which is itself a result of the boom in the global e-commerce and logistics industries. Corrugated boxes are widely used for ferrying a host of products, from edible items to electronic gadgets as this material displays high structure strength. Moreover, its excellent resistance to crushing ensures the goods do not get damages during their journey from their source to their destination, be it a warehouse, retail store, or people’s homes.
APAC has a massive corrugated boxes market share, and it is expected to generate the highest revenue in the coming years, due to the surge in environmental awareness and rising awareness on sustainable packaging with the huge demand for personal care and electronic goods leading to the escalation of the e-commerce activities. Moreover, the increase in access to raw materials along with the rise in government initiatives to promote the development of environmentally friendly products snowballed the demand for corrugated products for primary and secondary packaging applications.
Therefore, the rise in shipping activities led by the expansion of the supply chain industry proliferates the market.