American Forest & Paper Association Releases November 2020 Containerboard Monthly Report

One of the leading renewable biomaterials suppliers, UPM, has unveiled the latest findings from a highly targeted survey of some of the world’s leading packaging designers. The survey, conducted in collaboration with the Pentawards, has revealed unique insights into sustainable packaging design, including some of the key challenges faced by designers, with UPM highlighting how these can be overcome. The survey results show that while the majority (47%) of the designer respondents feel extremely comfortable handling briefs that include sustainability requirements, 43% of packaging designers would prefer more direction or information to feel fully comfortable when dealing with these briefs. This highlights a need for further education on how to incorporate sustainability into packaging design, with most respondents (35%) suggesting material guides would be the most beneficial. Further findings reveal that 57% of the designer respondents believe they always or often have the opportunity to impact the material choice of a product. However, 20% say they seldom do, and 17% almost never, which suggests some clients may not have yet realised the value of exploring alternative and more sustainable packaging solutions.

Stora Enso acquires De Jong Packaging Group, based in the Netherlands, for an enterprise value of approximately EUR 1,020 million. This acquisition will advance Stora Enso’s strategic direction, accelerate revenue growth and build market share in renewable packaging in Europe. De Jong Packaging Group is one of the largest corrugated packaging producers in the Benelux countries. Its product portfolio and geographic presence will complement and enhance Stora Enso’s offering, especially in fresh produce, e-commerce and industrial packaging. The acquisition of De Jong Packaging Group will significantly strengthen Stora Enso’s European market presence in corrugated packaging and provide an entry into the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the UK. With this acquisition, Stora Enso’s Packaging Solutions division will increase its corrugated packaging capacity by approximately 1,200 million m2 to more than 2,000 million m2, including De Jong Packaging Group’s ongoing expansion projects. This will secure a platform for continued growth in key markets. The European corrugated packaging market is fragmented, with local presence key for sustainable growth.

Following the announcement on 15 December 2022 of the agreement to sell its three Russian packaging converting operations to the Gotek Group for a total consideration of RUB 1.6bn, Mondi plc (“Mondi”) confirms that Gotek Group received all requisite approvals and the sale has now completed. Mondi has received net proceeds of €30.4m from this disposal into its Austrian bank account. The net proceeds from the sale of all our Russian assets will be distributed to shareholders as soon as reasonably practicable following receipt, once our exit from Russia has been completed.