Packing materials such as cardboard and plastic have skyrocketed, and demand has increased and supply has decreased at the same time.
NBC News, a major American media outlet, reported that there was a large shortage of packaging materials such as plastic, paper and cardboard. The “corrugated cardboard shortage” created by the demand for nesting due to the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was a problem at the end of 2020, but the shortage of packaging materials this time is 50% polyethylene and polyurethane, which are the raw materials for plastics. The main reason is the price increase.
Retailers are having their own supply chain issues, leading to a battle for packing materials
Cardboard shortages deal another blow to strained supply chains | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/10/cardboard-shortages-deal-another-blow-to-strained-supply-chains/
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about various changes in the world, and 'mail order' is also said to be a field where major changes have occurred. Mail-order sales increased dramatically due to pandemic demand for nesting, and at the same time, the corrugated board factory was temporarily closed on a global scale, resulting in a shortage of corrugated board.
With the shortage of corrugated cardboard, a new situation is occurring in the United States that will add to this situation. The record-breaking cold wave that struck Texas in February 2020 caused a catastrophicpower outage , but the catastrophic power outage caused 50 polyethylene polyurethanes to be used as raw materials for plastic cushioning materials that were shut down. It is said that the price has increased by%.
In response to this price increase, retailers in the United States have increased their reliance on cardboard envelopes, boxes and padding from plastic-based cushioning materials. Corrugated board prices have risen even after hitting record highs in January 2021 as they responded to outage orders in the early stages of the pandemic and hit the corrugated board mills with a shortage of pulp and paper imported from China. It is said that it continues.
Except for big players like Amazon, NBC News reports that 'you may not even get a cardboard box of a certain size' for a typical e-commerce company, and it will not fit in the box. He points out that as a result of forcibly pushing a missing item into a small cardboard box and shipping it, damage accidents during transportation may increase.
As the holiday season, including Black Friday and Christmas, approaches, the demand for corrugated cardboard is expected to increase as the number of mail-order customers increases. Andrew Hogenson, Global Managing Partner of Consumer Goods, Retail and Logistics at Infosys Consulting, an IT consulting firm, told NBC News that 'SMEs are stuck or exorbitantly priced. You will have to pay. '
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