American Forest & Paper Association Releases June 2021 Containerboard Monthly Report

Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, announces a first-to-market sustainable innovation for the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Huhtamaki's Push Tab® blister lid is mono-material PET and free from aluminum. It is designed to meet the stringent safety requirements of highly regulated pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging and provides the industry with a more sustainable alternative to traditional push-through blister packaging. This game changing innovation will help deliver sustainable packaging solutions for the growing global healthcare industry, whilst importantly maintaining functionality and efficiency, as Push Tab® blister lid runs on existing blister packaging lines without compromising on speed. The Huhtamaki Push Tab® blister lid is made of mono-material PET (polyethylene terephthalate) which significantly improves recyclability of the packaging, whilst remaining compatible with existing high performance blister packaging lines, without needing modifications or extra investment. Huhtamaki and its partner – Klöckner Pentaplast – bring this first-to-market innovation to help the global healthcare and pharmaceutical sector meet their sustainability targets and achieve market growth at the same time. In 2021, European packaging sales in the healthcare category had an estimated value of EUR 1.4 billion, of which approximately 50% were in blister packaging.

The flexible “Koehler NexPlus® Seal Pure 40 gsm” packaging paper from Koehler Paper is the final piece in the games manufacturer’s quest to offer its customers 100% recyclable and sustainable products, entirely free from plastics, for both games and puzzles. The card decks for the board games “CATAN“ and “Halli Galli”, which were originally wrapped in cellophane, switched to flexible packaging paper from Koehler Paper back in 2022. Like all other Koehler NexPlus® papers, “Koehler NexPlus® Seal Pure” is also heat-sealable, and its sturdiness characteristics make it ideally suited for further processing on all commercially available packaging machines. “We can produce approx. 120,000 puzzles per week — from puzzles for small children to puzzles for adults with 6000 pieces. The stability of the packaging paper from Koehler Paper enables us to pack the products at the same speed as plastic film, for example“, says Marcel Riehle, Director Of Operations at Ludo Fact, explaining the decision to switch to paper. Ludo Fact produces up to 17 million units per year for around 200 games publishing companies worldwide. The company is the first manufacturer on the market that has been able to introduce sustainable paper packaging for its products in large runs and at optimal costs.

Net sales for the first quarter of 2021 were $1.24 billion, an increase of $207.7 million, or 20.2 percent, as compared to the same period in the prior year. This increase was the result of higher net sales in all of the segments. Income before interest and income taxes for the first quarter of 2021 was a record $126.6 million, an increase of $24.5 million, or 24.0 percent, as compared to $102.1 million for the first quarter of 2020, and margins increased to 10.2 percent from 9.9 percent for the same periods. The increase in income before interest and income taxes was the result of higher income in the Dispensing and Specialty Closures and Custom Containers segments and lower corporate expenses primarily related to prior year costs for one-time plant employee incentive payments and announced acquisitions, partially offset by higher rationalization charges. Rationalization charges were $10.3 million and $2.8 million in the first quarters of 2021 and 2020, respectively.