American Forest & Paper Association Releases December 2020 Containerboard Monthly Report

Smurfit Kappa, one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world, has announced an investment of over USD33 million in Brazil to expand the capacity of its plant in Fortaleza to meet the growing demand for innovative and sustainable packaging. The expansion, which includes the installa tion of a new corrugator, will significantly extend the plant’s Shelf Ready Packaging capability for FMCG customers in a range of sectors including fresh fruit, home appliances and pharmaceuticals. Several high-end printers will also be installed to provide the high level of precision and quality that is required for eCommerce packaging. In addition, a new innovation centre will foster even more customer collaboration and enhance the development of impactful, sustainable and market-leading packaging solutions.

Sustainable recycling management is becoming increasingly important in trade and industry. Colorful recycled paper from Koehler makes PresentFill® boxes and fill material more environmentally friendly. A product’s packaging is crucial for 70 percent of consumers in their decision to buy. The circular economy is thus increasingly becoming a strategic topic in the sustainability efforts of trade and industry. In addition to transport containers, packaging includes fill material to protect the packed goods. The fact that packaging is increasingly being considered with regard to environmental protection and recyclability has been conducive to the success of the Bavarian company PresentFill®. Company founder Gerald Göbel started producing filling and padding material in 2013. The “raw material” in the form of recycled paper has been delivered ever since by the Koehler Paper Group from their factory in Greiz, Thuringia. There, the family company produces recycled paper from 100% secondary fiber material, proving, through the use of brilliant colors, that sustainability can be colorful.

Metsä Board aims at strengthening its position as Europe’s leading producer of folding boxboard and plans to increase its production capacity. The company has started pre-engineering for increasing the annual production capacity of folding boxboard machine BM1 at the Husum mill in Sweden by approximately 200,000 tonnes. The pre-engineering phase includes also an evaluation of the mill port’s capacity for increased volumes of raw materials and finished goods. The planned investment would further strengthen Husum BM1’s position as the biggest folding boxboard machine in Europe. The final investment decision is subject to the results of the pre-engineering phase. The readiness to make the final investment decision is expected to be achieved in the summer of 2021 and the ramp-up of the additional capacity would start in 2023.