Production of corrugated board in Russia will reach 3.3 billion m2 by 2007, according to a new report by Pyrabelisk, the leading specialist in information on the paper and packaging industries in Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Multi-national investors in the Russian corrugated industry account for only 15% of capacity, the rest being Russian owned.
Production of corrugating materials in Russia has more than doubled since 1998 to nearly 1.8 million tons and is forecast to increase to nearly 2.8 million tons by 2007. Production of presentation liners has increased from virtually zero in 1997 to nearly 250,000 tons in 2002. Initially produced for export, increasing quantities of presentation liners are now being sold to Russian corrugated producers. The Russian corrugated industry traditionally uses a high proportion of virgin fibre materials but demand for waste-based liner and fluting is now also growing rapidly.