A Jan. 14, 2019 report by Modern Materials Handling (Framingham, Mass., USA) cited some of the specific growth predictions for the folding paperboards box market according to The Freedonia Group (Cleveland, Ohio). Market research by Freedonia expects demand for folding paperboard boxes to grow at 3.9% through the next four years, to $12.8 billion by 2022. 

Folding Paperboard Boxes do not represent all types of paperboard boxes which includes additional sectors as categorized by Freedonia such as solid fiber and set-up paperboard. 

• Demand for all types of corrugated and paperboard boxes is forecast to increase 2.6% to $42.5 billion during the forecast period to 2022. 
• Nearly half of all new demand will stem from the large food & beverage market.
• 16% of new box sales predicted to derive from rapidly growing e-commerce segment by 2022.

In 2018, the Trump administration levied a 10% tariff on folding paperboard cartons from China. This was scheduled to increase to 25% on Jan. 1 of this year (2019). However, in Dec. 2018, China and the U.S. agreed on a suspension of tariff increases. If tariffs continue to rise as planned, Freedonia research suggests it will result in increases in domestic production in the U.S. and may account for more transition to flexible packaging formats. 

• The U..S. maintains a trade deficit in folding paperboard boxes that accounted for about 5% of demand in 2017
• By value, Canada, not China, is the leading supplier of folding paperboard cartons to the U.S. Canada supplies almost half of U.S. imports due to close proximity and abundant forest resources with processing facilities
• China is the second largest source of folding cartons for the U.S. in both volume and value terms. China benefits in this trade relationship because of low manufacturing costs maintained so as to offset the costs of shipping these products across the Pacific Ocean. 

Future Market Insights (London, U.K.) new market report on the segment titled Folding Paperboard Boxes Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012-2016 and Opportunity Assessment; 2017-2027 is scheduled to be released in March of this year (2019) and has identified the following key players in the folding paperboard boxes market during the forecast period:

• Amcor Limited
• Caraustar Industries
• DS Smith 
• Georgia-Pacific 
• International Paper
• Klabin SA
• Chesaspeake Corp.
• Clearwater Paper
• Packaging Corporation of America
• Graphic Packaging Holding Co.
• Nippon Paper Industries
• Orora Limited.