Local corrugated carton manufacturing sector has been expanding, thanks to the growth of country’s export-oriented businesses, especially apparels, insiders have said. Besides, use of such packaging items is growing driven by demand for transporting the manufactured goods across the country, they added. According to the sector insiders, nearly 500 factories of various scale manufacture corrugated cartons, majority of them sell their products to the export-oriented businesses including readymade garments (RMG), pharmaceuticals, leather goods, frozen fish and food, agro-processed items and handicrafts. The sector employs around 0.2 million people. Some of the manufacturers also export corrugated cartons, also known as transportation packaging, directly to foreign markets like India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia Pakistan and Sri Lanka. If given necessary support, the carton manufacturers can make significant contribution to the export income, president of Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers’ Association Md Abdul Kader Khan said. “Our packaging manufacturers are now fully capable of directly exporting the cartons, along with other accessories, after meeting the local demand,” he said. “We are looking for new export markets since we can presently utilise 70 per cent of our total capacity,” Mr Khan added. Local manufacturers are now drawing attention from foreign buyers for good finishing and standard of the products, which was made possible for brining in new technology from countries like China, South Korea, Japan, Italy and Germany, he noted. The raw materials for carton manufacturing are imported mostly from Australia, Switzerland and the USA, he said. Cartons are becoming essential for carrying such products as chicks, ice cream and fruits, he said, explaining why this market had been growing. The sector insiders said the country’s some of the leading apparel entrepreneurs have established their own carton manufacturing plants for ensuring better backward-linkage support and lowering shipping times. One such entrepreneur, A H Aslam Sunny said most of the manufacturers now use automated technology for carton making, which helped increase productivity with little wastage of raw materials while ensuring better finishing. “Automated machines can produce strong cartons, but requires lower paper, thus production cost is lower than that of manually-operated machines,” he said. A modern carton manufacturing unit requires an investment of Tk 150 million on an average, said Mr Sunny, who is also the first Vice President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). According to available data, the total export earnings for the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 was US$ 34.24 billion, of which $6.12 billion came from deemed-export with the export-oriented businesses. Corrugated carton covers the majority of such deemed export. Mohammad Moazzem Hossain Moti, Managing Director of a carton manufacturing unit, said the market for the corrugated carton rose by 100 per cent compared to a decade ago. Of the total cartons manufactured in the country, 60 to 70 per cent are contributing to the apparel sector, he said. “Whatever consumer products are manufactured in a factory, those need to be encased in corrugated cartons for safe transporting to other locations,” said Mr Moazzem. According to insiders, leading auto carton manufacturers are Epillion, Babillon, KDS, AKH, Montreal and Mondol. Almost all of the corrugated carton manufacturing ventures are established by Bangladeshi investors. The companies make three types of carton based on papers’ thickness namely 3-ply, 5-ply and 7-ply. The sizes of cartons vary according to merchandise types. Most of the factories are located in Dhaka, Gazipr, Savar and Narayanganj. A lab for testing cartons and other paper-based packaging goods have recently been installed at Tongi, Mr Moazzem said, adding that the unit is expected to help grow the sector. “The rate for testing a carton in Hong Kong is roughly Tk 7,500, which is reduced by one-third to Tk 2,500 at the local lab,” he said. He expressed the hope that the sector would grow further in the days ahead in line with the country’s rapidly-expanding merchandise exports.
