Ready to be transported and put on the shelf

Global trends influence the Hungarian collective packaging market. One of the current trends is using lighter cardboard products, especially on developed markets. In Europe demand is constantly growing for below 100 g/m² cardboard products. Until 2009 the cardboard market developed most dynamically in Eastern Europe. Estimation is that demand will grow by 3.4 percent each year until 2013. The proportion of cardboard products is significantly high at 57 percent – amongst all packaging materials this proportion means a robust 23-percent share. Cardboard product manufacturers established their own organisation MAHUSZ, which engages in technological, scientific, statistical and PR activity. One of their most important tasks is to deal with the problem of increasing prices: in just one year the price of waste paper, their most important base material, increased tenfold.

MAHUSZ president and Dunapack Zrt. CEO László Panyi is of the opinion that Hungarian authorities should help domestic waste recyclers by making sure that waste paper ended up at their premises and not in Western Europe or China. György Viszkei, the managing director of ÖKO-Pannon Nonprofit Kft. told our magazine that the industry’s survival depends on purchasing base materials at a good price. Mária Sigray, Rondo Hullámkartongyártó Kft.’s managing director opined that another 50-euro/ton increase in paper prices might result in manufacturers’ slow delivery of orders. Zsolt Fekete, the managing director of SCA Packaging Hungary & Slovakia & Romania emphasised how environmental protection and sustainability are becoming increasingly important in the packaging sector too. Zoltán Szőnyi, marketing director of Duropack-Starpack Kft. told that the two main expectations influencing market players are product optimisation and the use of packaging as marketing tool. Duropack Kft. takes great care of knowing the market well and realising their innovations accordingly. In early 2008 their Füzesabony plant started using a modern Martin Midline casemaker, which is capable of manufacturing slotted corrugated cases (SCC). In the year of the crisis the management believed in the power of innovation and invested in a Twin-feeder unit. With this they are capable of manufacturing ‘shelf-ready’ cases. SCA Packaging Hungary’s solutions are based on the latest trends.

Economic recession and growing base material prices compelled them to understand their market better and to offer solutions which make their partners unique in their own segment, facilitating the market success of their products. Imre Hopka, Dunapack Zrt.’s sales and marketing director is convinced that packaging is the business card of a product. Dunapack Zrt. offers a complex service that involves everything from technological assistance to the complete screening of partners’ presently used packaging solutions. Cutting costs have become vital as partners demand cheaper solutions: this is the reason why the market is turning to ‘light cardboard’ solutions.