According to the latest market research data released by Smithers, the global folding carton packaging market will reach US $136.7 billion in 2021. With the gradual recovery of the market from the COVID-19, the global demand of this market may reach US $172 billion in 2026.

According to the data in the future of folding cartonsto 2026, the demand for paperboard packaging has been increasing since 2010. Affected by the COVID-19, the growth rate of folding carton demand has slowed down, but the growth trend has not changed. The processing capacity of folding carton increased slightly from 48million tons in 2019 to 48.3 million tons in 2020; It is estimated that it will further increase to 61.58 million tons in 2026.

From 2019 to 2020, the output of paperboard will only increase by 1.6%, and the growth rate of processing volume will be less than 1%. According to the latest price estimates of Smithers, the total amount of cardboard sold (materials sold to processors) in 2021 is expected to reach US $46.28 billion.

With the threat of COVID-19 gradually weakening, the demand for folding carton packaging will increase by 2% from 2020 to 2021, and it is expected to recover to an average annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% by 2026. Mainly due to the new demand for folding carton packaging in Asia, while the market share in North America and mature Europe will decline.

The COVID-19 has affected the end-users’ consumption of folding carton packaging to varying degrees. The sales volume of soft drinks decreased the most in the past year, while the demand for folding cartons for solid food packaging increased well in 2020. The medium-term consumption growth rate of candy and solid food packaging is expected to be the highest.

In this case, various factors will help to redefine the market demand for paperboard. For example, the focus on sustainable packaging, the continuous growth of e-commerce, the wide application of digital printing system, the renewal of folding carton design, the increase of paperboard production capacity, etc.