The Middle East and Africa (MEA) paper industry is riding a growth wave buoyed by e-commerce proliferation and exponential demand in the packaging sector across the region, estimated to be a market worth around AED 270 billion.
Propaper Dubai 2022 which transpired from 20-22 September at Festival Arena, Dubai Festival City hosted paper industry companies from across a wide spectrum, including corrugated paper board makers to paper mill machinery manufacturers to tissue and converting machinery, as well as printing and packaging equipment.
Verifair, organisers of Propaper Dubai 2022, said the UAE packaging market is also poised for significant growth in the next five years to an estimated AED 21 billion quoting Mordor Intelligence.
Speaking on industry trends, Jeen Joshua, Director, Verifair said, “We have seen a growth context for the paper industry in MEA as well as across Asia-Pacific countries with niche segments like corrugated paper board packaging, tissues, etc. registering exponential growth, particularly in the post-Covid scenario. The demand for corrugated packaging across end-user verticals such as food, medical products, pharmaceutical, and hygiene products, among others, have been on the rise with consumers taking to e-commerce channels with an unprecedented enthusiasm.”
Under the auspices of FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organizations), the apex body for Indian exporters, a large contingent of 54 companies, the largest after the EXPO 2020 Dubai participation, organised the India Pavilion featuring multisector products under the banner of Super Sourcing Dubai 2022, looking at increasing export of Indian products to the GCC countries and the MENA in general.
The UAE paperboard market growth
With a high urbanisation growth of over 86 per cent and increasing disposable income in the UAE, demand for packaged products continues to rise, in turn paving the way for more paper packaging solutions.
“The windfall growth in the paper packaging demand from the Covid continues to be driven by the health and hygiene conscious consumers, particularly in the food and beverage sector. Paper-based eco-friendly sustainable packaging solutions also continues to gain in this context.”
“Corrugated board packaging market in the UAE is anticipated to touch nearly US $2 billion by 2025 as per industry reports,” added Joshua.
The demand for paper packaging solutions has also been supported by the growth of e-commerce in the UAE, and according to Visa, the country’s online spend is the biggest in the MENA region with annual spend averaging over US$1,648.