The UAE traded over three million tonnes of corrugated packed products worth $4.6 billion in 2013. The products were either consumed domestically or re-exported to other parts in Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Globally, the corrugated packaging industry generated nearly 90 million tonnes of finished products worth over $140 billion in 2013. This was produced from 110 million tonnes of containerboard material, manufactured in over 750 paper mills across the globe, stated the ‘Future of Corrugated Board Packaging up to 2019’ report published ahead of the 'Paper Arabia 2014' expo.

A premier specialised event for the paper industry, Paper Arabia will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from September 21 to 23.

With more than 100 exhibitors from 40 countries from across the world, the event will be a key platform for traders and industry players to interact.

Lamyae Zafati, the exhibition manager, Al Fajer Information and Services, the event organizers said: "Paper Arabia 2014 has brought corrugated and carton industries on board due to the growing importance of these two dynamic sectors in the UAE and the Arab world."

"The UAE is increasing the capacity of producing corrugated packaging finished products dependent on the paper mills operating in the country, however, we export more than 90 per cent of these packaging products that usually come embedded in the industrial, agriculture, FMCGs and other end user products consumed internally or re-exported to other parts of the world," he added.

According to him, the Middle East’s consumption of paper for packaging is five times higher than its consumption of glass packaging.

"The paper and board packaging consumption in the Middle East region stood at $7 billion, against the global consumption of $165 billion. It is more in value than Eastern Europe and Africa regions," said Zafati, citing the World Packaging Organization report.

This reflects the potential that the paper industry holds for the region as paper serves as an alternative to other packaging options, including rigid plastics, flexible plastics, metal, glass and others for lower environmental impact, as well as the recycling trend that is gaining momentum in the Middle East, especially in the UAE, he stated.

On a global scale, the demand for corrugated packaging material is expected to grow four per cent annually over the next five years to reach $176 billion by 2019, the report added.

On its future outlook, Zafati said the Middle East consumption will be nearly nine per cent of the world’s consumption by 2020, making the region the fastest growing market for this industry as its annual growth stands at 15 per cent while global growth is around four per cent," he added.

Zafati said in the UAE, the packaging accounted for the bulk of paper consumption.  "Paper and board packaging is the single largest element of the packaging market, with more than 40 per cent share of the paper industry in the Gulf," he noted.

He pointed out that the demand for paper from packaging industries was rising in developed and developing markets alike and the Arab world was no different.

"We think that the growth in import of paper products can be linked to rising incomes and lifestyle changes, and in part to Dubai and UAE as a transit hub due to hectic trading activity in the free zones,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service