There's no more cardboard, order your boxes right away!

SPOILER ALERT : ORDER YOUr BOXES RIGHT AWAY

Current circumstances regarding paper shortages inspired me to write about the problem and share it with my network, primarily consisting of buyers, to help you get through the year. Yes, I’m already thinking of Black Friday and Christmas!

several factors are responsible 

• First, the demand for cardboard has increased due to the closure of stores and the popularity of e-commerce.
• People confined began to renovate their homes. The strong demand for wood lumber decreased availability of wood pulp used to produce paper. With the value of wood being higher than that of pulp, the forest industry turned to the highest bidder.

Although cardboard is made primarily from recycled fibers, the supply of virgin fibers is crucial, as the mechanical properties of virgin fiber provide body and strength to the paper. Without it, the paper crumbles.

There was also talk about the lack of recycled paper. Among the causes, the massive departure of employees from the office place affected the availability of paper for recycling. And also, stop burning your cardboard for your little campfire, please recycle it!

In turn, paper mills have dropped lower value products to optimize machine time on more profitable products. Likewise with inverters (place where corrugated cardboard is manufactured) for which we have seen a shedding of small orders, which has increased the number of orders to be produced by cardboard box manufacturers.

A strict quota to be respected combined with a significant price increase 

At the same time, paper mills and inverters have placed their customers under quota. For example, a manufacturer may have a carton converting capacity of 750K square feet per day, but a quota of only 400K square feet per day.

I won't even elaborate on the almost 30% increase in the cost of raw materials in less than a year or the outbidding being done by companies that cannot afford to wait. The picture is not rosy my friend and the situation is far from over, at least not until paper companies can replenish their warehouses.

My advice is this: plan ahead, way ahead and order now for your October through December sales. The state of emergency no longer exists.

- By Marie-Pier Joubert, Buyer at CARTIER -

Order your packaging products now from your Account Manager or by contacting a CARTIER Expert directly, contact us.