As China's online shopping activity continues to grow, Japan, one of the major producers of corrugated medium, has seen a sharp increase in exports over the past six months.
According to the Japan Paper Federation, the country exported 52,000 tons of corrugated raw paper in May, more than double the volume of the same month last year.
Japan's actual exports from January to May reached a record high of 300,000 tons, up 90 percent year-on-year.
China is the most important export market for Japan's corrugated medium. In the first five months of 2020, Japan's corrugated base paper exports to China reached 87,000 tons, six times more than the same period last year, accounting for 30 percent of total exports.
In addition to increased demand from foreign markets, mainly China and Southeast Asia, the sluggishness of the Japanese domestic market due to the epidemic has forced many Japanese corrugated cartonboard manufacturers to expand their exports to China. Manufacturers target the export market.
Corrugated base paper is made up of wood fibers that can be naturally decomposed, and the corrugated board made from it is strong and flexible.
The final product of corrugated cardboard is mostly corrugated boxes, widely used in packaging, storage and distribution of various commodities, with light weight, easy to recycle and easy to use. Features such as reuse make it more popular than materials such as plastic and metal in the packaging market.
The country with the highest demand for corrugated cartons globally is China.
According to Paper.com.cn, the consumption of corrugated boxes in China in 2019 was 23.74 million tons, a year on year The increase was 7.28%.
In 2019, China imported 1.56 million tons of corrugated base paper and 2.2 million tons of containerboard.
Behind this is the rapid development of e-commerce retailing. According to a report released by China's Ministry of Commerce, the country's e-commerce transactions reached 34.81 trillion yuan in the past year, of which online retail sales 10.63 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.5% year-on-year.
