IndiaCorr show reaffirms growth in the sector

The Indian Corrugated Case Manufacturers' Association (ICCMA) hosted its Congress on 8-9 October alongside the show. The theme was Vision Five Trillion Economy, which had the corrugation industry thought-leaders discuss the highs and lows of the corrugated box industry.

Sanjay Rajgarhia, president of ICCMA, said, "The size of the industry in terms of kraft paper being converted is 8-million MT per annum. Today, about 500 automatic plants have a capacity ranging from 6,000 TPA to 60,000 TPA. In addition there are 10,000 semi-automatic plants with capacity from 1,000 TPA to 3,000 TPA. The industry value is estimated at Rs 40,000 crore.

One data set shared during the roundtable confabulations was that as and when the Indian economy breached the USD Trillion mark, then the Indian industry could be converting 18 MT per annum by 2026.

Kirit Modi, president emeritus of ICCMA, said, "This was a huge experiment. And I must say the experiment was successful. The main aim of the Congress was to create awareness among all the stakeholders about the industry's burning issues. The delegates have benefitted from this brainstorming about the corrugated packaging industry. Now we will plot the next step before the next Congress."

ICCMA prepared a list of curated questions about the industry, the Indian economy, the global economy and the brown box's future. The roundtable participants shared their views and deliberated.

The bullishness of the ICCMA Congress was reflected at the IndiaCorr show, which saw 170+ suppliers plus live demos on the show floor. Ink majors like Siegwerk and Hubergroup launched new eco-friendly ink solutions. As WhatPackaging? magazine was going to press on day three of the show, Suba and Zhongke announced the sale of their kit machine to Akar (Silvassa) and Concord (Vadodara), respectively.