Corrugated board industry: Sales volume increase with declining revenues

In absolute terms, this corresponds to an increase in sales of 173.5 million square meters of corrugated board. Overall, the corrugated board manufacturers organized in the VDW sold more than 2.1 billion square meters in the last three months of the year.

VDW Managing Director Dr. Oliver Wolfrum cites a stable situation on the customer side despite the lockdown as one of the reasons for the significant increase from October to December. For example, demand from the consumer goods industry increased by 8.1 percent in December alone. And according to Wolfrum, the change in consumer shopping behavior is also contributing to the positive sales trend: "Due to the restrictions on brick-and-mortar retail, consumers are once again shopping online to a greater extent, as they did in the spring." According to the e-commerce association bevh, industry sales of goods rose from EUR 72.6 billion to EUR 83.3 billion in 2020. This represents an increase of 14.6 percent compared to 2019. "Since nine out of ten shipping goods are sent in corrugated board, the demand for high-performance shipping packaging made of this material is increasing," Wolfrum said.

"However, the significant growth in volumes is offset by a worrying development in revenues," Wolfrum points out. With average revenues of 52.2 cents per square meter of corrugated board, the fourth quarter of 2020 is 4.6 percent below the figure for the same period last year. Companies are feeling additional pressure on the cost side. From September to December, average paper prices increased by 12.9 percent and are currently at a price level last seen in September 2019. However, at that time, the company's own average revenues were 7.2 percent higher than at the end of 2020. Further price increases for corrugated base papers have already been announced for March, which will further intensify the economic pressure on corrugated board manufacturers. "The gap between corrugated board and paper prices is currently widening to such an extent that, in the view of some members, the breaking point has been reached."