September 2, 2010
【Press release】

Of the Chinese regions currently experiencing rapid growth in the corrugated box industry, East China's growth is the most remarkable. The total annual carton production capability of the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui is between eight and nine million tons, greater than that of South China. According to statistics from the Shanghai Packaging Technology Association’s Paper Container Packaging Commission, the average annual growth of Shanghai’s corrugated box industry is about 30%. Zhejiang and Jiangsu, both situated close to Shanghai, are also seeing their corrugated box industries develop rapidly, with approximately 400 corrugated board production lines in each province.  Nationally, the value of Zhejiang’s and Jiangsu’s output ranks second and third in China, respectively.

East China is located in China's economically-developed coastal regions.   The area along the Yangtze River is characterized by favorable climatic and geographic conditions, as well as an ample availability of labor. The carton industry here has managed to sustain a positive development trend and, in the wake of the financial crisis, East China's merchandise exports are gradually recovering. According to figures from Hangzhou Customs, the value of Zhejiang’s exports between January and April 2010 was USD 49.75 billion.  This figure represents a 31.8% rise, year-on-year, and is 2.6% higher than the national average growth rate. According to figures from Shanghai Customs, in the first four months of this year, Shanghai exported USD 52.43 billion worth of goods. This figure is a 27% rise, year-on-year.

A large number of exported products, like machinery, furniture, aquatic products and fruit use cartons for their packaging. Consequently, the demand for corrugated boxes has grown rapidly as export volume has increased. Honeycomb paperboard, a new sector in packaging, has become the main packaging product for electronics items.  Its advantages include light weight, low cost, high strength and good cushioning performance. A few years ago, Gree Electric Appliances Inc. pioneered the use of honeycomb paperboard to replace EPS foam plastic for packaging air conditioners. One air conditioner production line uses about 3,000 sets of honeycomb paperboard cushioning material per day.

The appreciation of the RMB, together with rising prices, have contributed to wages going up. Already this year, 27 Chinese provinces have raised the minimum wage.   East China's minimum wage is highest. Rising wages cause an increase in labor costs.  This, in turn, causes carton companies that already have poor margins to fall under even greater pressure.  Currently, some domestic carton enterprises still rely on manual operation for splicing, supplying, stacking and packaging.  This means that their production methods are characterized by low speed, high labor costs and frequent accidents. The strong demand for automated equipment like high speed corrugated paperboard production lines, automatic flexo printer slotting machines, automatic die-cutting machines, automatic box pasting machines and nailing machines signifies the change that the industry in undergoing.

With the growth of the corrugated machinery market continuing to gather pace, both suppliers and buyers need to keep abreast of industry information. As a platform for exchanging important information and news about the corrugated industry, SinoCorrugated 2011, organized by Reed Exhibitions, and featuring the global corrugated packaging industry's most cutting edge equipment and technologies, will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from April 6 to April 9 next year. The exhibition will span a display area of nearly 50,000 sqm, on which several hundred industry-leading exhibitors will showcase a total of 1,300 pieces of corrugated manufacturing equipment and more than 1000 kinds of related consumables.

The exhibition is sure to capture the attention of the entire corrugated cardboard industry and an approximate 23,000 local and international visitors will attend. Attendees of previous editions of SinoCorrugated, overseas buyers in particular, have given overwhelmingly positive feedback after exhibitions. The show allows visitors to make direct contact with many well-known manufacturers of carton machinery and consumables.  They also get the chance to test equipment, evaluate performance and learn, first hand, about the price, functions and servicing requirements of the machinery on display. This helps them purchase equipment that is accurately suited to their business needs.

At SinoCorrugated 2010, Robert Paczka, a visitor from Poland, said that China-made equipment was cost-effective and that was his reason for making the long trip to Asia to visit the show.  He found the exhibition experience a rewarding one. And it was not just visitors to the show who found their participation fruitful; exhibitors benefited too.  Not only did they showcase their corporate image and enhance their brand profiles to domestic and international customers, they also secured a large number of sales leads and orders on-site.

SinoCorrugated 2011 will be equally effective for all participants and is sure to inspire a new wave of corrugated equipment purchasing.

For more information, please visit: www.sino-corrugated.com

About the Organiser

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 440 events in 36 countries. In 2009 Reed brought together over six million active event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 35 fully staffed offices.

Reed organises a wide range of events, including trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Its portfolio of over 440 events serves 44 industry sectors, including:
Aerospace & aviation, automobiles, beauty & cosmetics, broadcasting, building & construction, electronics, energy, oil & gas, engineering & manufacturing, food service & hospitality, gifts, healthcare, interior design, IT & telecoms, jewellery, life science & pharmaceuticals, machinery, marketing, business services & training, medical education, printing & graphics, security & safety, sports & recreation, travel.

Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations and government departments Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.

Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2008, Reed Elsevier made an adjusted profit before taxation of £1,205 million on turnover of £5,334 million.

For press information, please contact:
Sinsia Xing
Reed Exhibitions Shanghai Branch
Tel: +86 21 5153 5207
Fax:+86 21 5153 5234
Email: