I•N•D•U•S•T•R•Y T•R•E•N•D•S
Indian Paper Industry and Its Post Pandemic Prognosis The huge disruption caused by the pandemic cannot be denied; however, it has not really changed the course or direction but accelerated the pre-existing trends. but scales truly tilted in its favour during multiple lockdowns across the globe. • Global warming has been an area of growing concern for nearly three decades, the pandemic did not dilute the human resolve to fight it, if anything, the international community is doubling down on countering it. • Geopolitical developments that have erupted recently, have been simmering for a long time.
Author: Mr. Anup Kansal, Partner & Principal Consultant, Business Transformation and Strategy Kansulting
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uring the last two years, the pandemic has hobbled the world socially, economically, and politically. Hopefully, we are past the worst of it and can look forward to the normalisation of human activity. A lot has been analysed and said about the changes this pandemic has brought about to the normal way of human life. Let us look at some of the macro trends witnessed. • Digitisation of business and human activities was in its infancy till 2019 and multiplied several folds e.g., shift to WFH and online education. • Online businesses were showing healthy growth and gaining share,
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• During 2020, when the world battled the most uncertain and worst phase of the pandemic, the conventional ICE automotive sales plunged in all markets globally, but EV sales volume went up sharply for all major brands. While huge disruptions caused by the pandemic cannot be denied, the disruption has not really changed the course or direction but has actually accelerated the pre-existing trends. The paper industry globally and in India is not likely to be any different in this regard. The following is an attempt to decode the trends, challenges, and opportunities in various market segments in the industry from markets, marketing, and supply chain perspective.
Packaging The packaging uses a vast array of materials out of which paper and boards are the largest by volume and value. Depending upon the application and usage, paper-based packaging itself comprises at least 6 distinct segments-
Flexible Packaging: Primary packaging happens to be the most versatile and fastest-growing category. The materials used are predominantly plastic films but paper constitutes a healthy 15 percent of the pie. Most of the grades used are printing grades or the ones that can be manufactured on W&P equipment. Share of paper in flexible packaging will largely depend not on the grades or the quality of the paper but on the supply chain compatibility with the packaging industry. First is the lead time; the flexible packaging industry gets packaging films in 5-7 days, delivered. The ability to service special size, joint-free, and length-specific reels are other important expectations. In fact, on both factors i.e., lead time and special size reels, the paper industry can meet the requirements with a focused and sustained program. Businesses from the flexible packaging segment can offer improved productivity, cost reduction thru a better reel to sheet mix as well as the possibility of better price realisation. Corrugated Box: This is by far the largest and a high growth segment in packaging applications. As a shipper solution, it is practically unchallenged in terms of cost, functionality, and sustainability. For many years, this segment remained a low focus and low-tech area across its supply chain. But in recent years, box converting has already migrated to semi-automatic and automatic operations bringing about huge gains in quality, productivity, and cost. This
