The trend among Indian monocarton manufacturers is to invest in longer and more automated presses. However, there is some question as to what is ‘more automation’ in a modern highly configured multicolor offset press. There are also reports this year of converters who are ordering a pair of presses at once, although their shipment and installation may be staggered. As we have written earlier, the carton converters are commissioning exceptional capacities in this financial year despite anemic economic growth by Indian standards, particularly in consumer products.
Several leading carton converters agree that there is fierce competition in carton prices and margins are under pressure. One of the high-volume converters goes as far as to say that the economy is quite flat. “The government needs to do something to improve consumption. The current margins in carton manufacturing are not sustainable. Buying highly configured presses is all right if you can generate the capital. But if you have to borrow or go in for private equity, you could be asking for trouble,” he adds.
At the same time, many carton converters are ordering longer and more automated presses. A few are ordering presses with logistics on the feeder and delivery side. Vimal Joshi of Temple Packaging in Western India, which has ordered a pair of highly configured Heidelberg presses with ‘Push to Stop’ automation says, “As the volumes of cartons have increased, so have the volumes of the special cartons with drip-off coatings, metallic effects and embossing. Even for the smaller but structured brands, there is a lot of premiumization and their packaging designs are benchmarked to the market leader in their segment.”
Joshi says that the higher investment in longer and more automated presses is justified by commercial considerations of single–pass efficiency and minimizing wastage. He notes that while the current economy is not exactly galloping, the carton industry is getting more fragmented. This is evident with newer converters entering the market, and those in smaller cities and towns are also buying new packaging presses.
Capital and demand are not a challenge – but human resources are
Another leading converter from South India tells us that efficiency and the reduction of human resources are key to investments in new and more expensive presses. He says, “Every extra pass or operation performed offline would add at least 1% to the board wastage. Additionally, the brand owners are demanding instant production as they want to be faster to market. We need to be able to produce cartons with all their embellishments in a single pass and send them directly to the converting section. Less handling is key to quality and reducing spoilage.
“In any case, we have to replace our older ten and fifteen-year-old presses with new machines and we look at replacing two slower machines with a faster and more efficient machine that can perform more operations in-line. Capital and marketing are not major issues, but the key issue is trained and skilled human resources and every inline operation reduces manpower costs and adds to our operational efficiency.”
It is a banner year for the global press manufacturers in India
Based on the import data, a significant number of brand new mostly 7-color plus coater offset presses configured with UV and IR curing have already been imported and installed. Brand-new die-cutters, hot foil stamping machines, and folder gluers are in place, and on order – to remove inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the converting department.
Our estimate of 30 sheetfed carton presses likely to be installed by 31 March 2025, with a combined value of over Rs 400 crore or approximately 45 million Euros, is more than likely to be borne out. In addition, several very highly configured long presses may arrive by year-end but will only be installed in the first quarter or first half of the 2025-26 financial year.
The three major suppliers of the highly configured packaging presses to the Indian market this year are Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, and Komori. While for Heidelberg this is a spectacular comeback that emanates from its successful drupa24 campaign, for Komori this is a breakthrough year in the packaging vertical where it has taken on the German giants. Heidelberg has already installed one exceptionally high-value press and Koenig & Bauer has already installed two especially high-value presses thus far –in what is turning out to be a stiff competition that will continue till the end of the financial year on 31 March 2025, and possibly into the first quarter of the next financial year.
As the trend for buying new packaging presses has been rising in the past three years, the number of used 6-color plus coater and higher configuration presses is declining. We estimate that about 65 to 75 such packaging presses will be installed by March, which include at least one very high-value 7-color press with a double coater. However, this number reflects a sequential decline trend in the import of used good condition multicolor offset packaging presses – from 89 in FY22–23 to 84 in FY23–24, and about 70 in the current financial year.
On the converting side, we expect the installation of 50 to 55 new die-cutters and hot-foil stamping machines imported this year from Bobst, DGM, Eterna, MasterWork, and Robus and another 15 to 25 from a variety of Chinese manufacturers. These are in addition to approximately 30 to 40 locally manufactured die–cutters from Autoprint and Excel Maxima. Folder-gluer installations are expected to reach figures of at least 70 to 75 by March-end and could be even higher.
Paperboard prices
While the gap between Indian and imported paperboard prices have closed slightly from our earlier report, Indian paperboard is still Rs 5 a kilogram above imported boards. Packaging converters are appealing to the government to do away with the anti-dumping duties on imported paperboard in light of growing demand and shortage of local capacities, in the face of globally competitive prices.
Not being lowest cost producers, the Indian mills have shown a decline in their financial performance in the first three quarters of the current financial year, and are naturally insisting on maintaining anti-dumping duties. This is now becoming a tussle between the local paperboard manufacturers and the packaging converters since the cost of raw materials and other inputs for paper–making in India is higher than in other Asian nations.
Note: On 6 February 2025, this article has been slightly edited by the author for grammar and better clarity on the installations of die–cutters.
