According to the forecasts stated by Pyrabelisk Ltd. (Great Britain) in its study of November 2002, the corrugated board production of eleven Central and Eastern European countries (Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia) will reach some 4.5 billion sq. meters by 2005.
Development in the region was hindered by economic recession or deceleration, so there are no major production investment projects in the majority of the countries concerned.
According to the study, in several countries - in conjunction with their accession to the EU - demand for corrugated board will increase considerably over the next 2-5 years.
The region´s total corrugated board production capacity is 5.5 billion sq. meters. Most of this capacity lies in the north and west, so investments will be needed in the southeast. Just five major companies - led by Kappa (10%), Dunapack (Prinzhorn) (8.9%) and Model (8.3%) - control more than 50% of the capacity*.
Corrugated base paper output will rise to 2.2 million tons by 2005, but this will not meet the region´s demand. A high proportion of waste-based lining and fluting paper is used, with most of the primary lining and fluting layers being exported from the region. Poland is in leading position in terms of production, with 740,000 tons in 2001.
In Pyrabelisk´s 260-page study a separate chapter is devoted to each country, with statistics given for the period of 1996-2005, the corporate profiles of liner and fluting plants provided, an analysis is done on trade processes, and past and future corporate strategies, and it reviews the key end-user industries. Liner and fluting and corrugated board output is also examined from the point of view of investors.
* = In EUWID this figure is 5%!
EUWID Papier und Zellstoff, Vol. 77., No. 3, 15 January 2003, p. 11. |
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