1. Product Description: Corrugated board consists of board built up by gluing a flat sheet on one or both sides of a corrugated paper or medium. These are made of kraft paper with regular curved folds and greaves. Corrugated boxes are made from corrugated boards. The boxes are used as packaging materials for industrial goods.
2. Rationale: Though the level of industrial development in the Amhara Region is at a very low stage, there are some factories which require corrugated boxes for packaging their products. Some of the industrial products which require corrugated boxes for packaging include printed materials, food products such as biscuits, nails, shoes, yarn, edible oil, etc. The corrugated boxes used to package and other products are brought from other parts of the country. The packaging industry develops with the expansion of other industrial sectors. For the products currently produced and for products to be produced in the future, there is a need to establish a small corrugated board and box plant in the Amhara Region.
3. Source of Raw Material: During the initial period of operation, say five years, the craft paper used for making corrugated board and box will be imported. With the development of the paper industry in the Region, the craft paper will be produced in the Region to supply the corrugated board plant with the necessary “raw material”.
4. Market Potential: Between 2000 and 2004, average annual production of corrugated box was 2,530 tons. The share of the Amhara Region was roughly 632 tons. The technology of producing corrugated board and box is not subject to a high degree of economies of scale. A plant which can produce 400 tons of corrugated board can be a financially viable plant if production costs are kept to the minimum. Hence, even the existing demand for corrugated boxes can justify the establishment of a small corrugated box making factory in the Region.
5. Process and Technology: Corrugated board is made of craft paper or straw with regular curved folds and greaves. It is composed of two structural elements which are (a) the facing or linear board and (b) the fluting structure or corrugated medium. The linear is used for outer side of the board and the medium for the inner. The process of producing corrugated board can be summarized as follows. A kraft liner paper and corrugated medium paper are fed into a corrugated machine. Before the medium paper comes in contact with corrugating rolls, the rolls are heated to produce a surface temperature of 3200-3400F. These rolls will heat the corrugated medium when it comes in contact with the rolls. This heat treatment makes the paper soft and pliable so that uniform flutings are produced. On leaving the corrugating rolls, the corrugating medium comes in contact with glue applicator roll which applies adhesive to tips of flutes formed by the rolls. After the application of the glue, the first liner is brought into contact with the glue tips and then wound in roll. The resulting board is a single face. For making a double face board, adhesive is applied to the flutes on the other side of the corrugating medium and a second liner is applied.
For manufacturing corrugated box from corrugated boards, the process involves cutting the board, creasing, shearing, corner cutting and stitching. Main machinery include corrugating machine, board cutter, pasting machine, sheet press, rotary cutting and creasing machine.
6. Estimated Investment: For a plant which can produce 1 ton of corrugated boxes, estimated investment cost will be as follows:
§ Building/Shading 240m2 at Birr 1500/m2 = Birr 360,000
§ Plant and machinery = Birr 500,000
§ Working Capital = Birr 450,000
1,310,000
7. Benefits: Promotes self-sufficiency in the Region, saves regional financial resources, introduces new skills and technology to the Region, and crates the possibility of using straw to produce material for corrugated board.
8. Location: Bahir Dar, Combolcha, or any city which the investors prefer.