In this article, we will discuss the paper packaging industry after COVID-19

In this time of crisis, no industry is immune to the deadly virus putting the paper packaging industry after COVID-19 at risk, the print industry in India in all its forms is around 46 thousand crores, in which offset printing holds around 27.5 crores. 

If the lockdown continues for more than 4 weeks the estimated loss to the print industry would be around 4000 crores, while the offset industry would take a hit between 2300 to 2800 crore, making it one of the most vulnerable industries.

This loss will not only be in the production of business but also the cost incurred by days in which the employees have gone without work thus creating a sense of insecurity in the business as no clear bill has been introduced by the government or the banks for the print industry to bounce back.

As the saying goes “ Business has always been done with the exchange of money and material, the only thing that will change is the way of doing it. 

As we have the opportunity to analyze and restructure our business, let’s do a SWOT analysis of the print industry in the current economic situation.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

• India has a great entrepreneurship ardor, much greater than other countries which will help us to stand back
• We have the youngest and committed manpower in the world.
• Availability of skilled and inexpensive labor force.
• Prices of raw materials such as paper, inks, and chemicals are comparable to the world.
• Land for industrial use is cheap in many states. 

Weakness

• Businesses are not ready to take risks in the present working scenario. 
• The rise in USD and EURO to INR is making the end-product costly as most of the machinery is imported in India.
• The lack of certification and standardization is one of the major issues of the printing industry.
• Only a few businesses in the print industry employ skilled or trained manpower. 
• Most MSME industries have the owners as CEO, which lacks certain skill sets to make a business model successful. 

Opportunities 

• The print industry has to shift from the physical contact business to the internet order-taking business as more people will avoid physical contact to do business. 
• Export from India will increase as various countries will look for alternative destinations post-COVID-19. 
• Domestic collaboration is an important key to fight competition from bigger businesses. 

Threats

• If a permanent solution for COVID-19 is not found in a few months, the economic impact on the print industry would be irreparable.
• There would be a significant increase in the demand and supply gap.
• There would be an exponential increase in bank defaulters in the print industry if the banks don’t support the business.  
• Global vulnerability due to oil prices and the stock market would directly affect the cost of production. 

Among all the uncertainties the paper packaging industry shows steady growth, the bar graph below shows the growth of the paper packaging industry.

(i.e. paper-carton board packaging industry, paper liner packaging industry, and other paper packaging type) for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively

As it depicts the paper packaging industry for the year 2019 was 1,28,926 crores which show an estimated growth of 8.5 percent taking it to 1,39,983 crores while the forecast of 2021 is 1,48,984 crores showing an increase of 6.5 percent.

To get deeper insights

businesswire

The Hindu- Businessline

Economic Times