Tissue markets overview and trends that will shape the next 5 years - Paper Technology International 2023 - Paper Technology International 2023 - Flipbook - Page 21

Tissue markets overview and trends that will shape the next 5 years - Paper Technology International 2023

PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
overview and trends Tissue markets that will shape the next 5 years
Matt Elhardt, VP of Global Sales, Fisher International
INTRODUCTION:
To say that global geopolitical, trade flows and economic structures are stressed would be an understatement. Over the course of
the last two years, a heightened sense of uncertainty has permeated our lives and the markets we depend on, though there are shimmers
of light and reasons to be hopeful about the future.
One segment of the pulp & paper industry that continues to rapidly evolve is tissue and towel. There has been some reshuffling
and settling since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, and society seems determined to return to normalcy – whatever that may look like.
The global tissue sector also looks drastically different than it did in 2019. Before looking at the trajectory of the tissue and towel sector and
various factors that could impact it going forward, here are eight interesting facts about the state of the global tissue and towel sector as of
2022.
1: Global tissue is a roughly 60MM st market, which is about
10-15% of the global pulp and paper market. As illustrated in the
image below, Asia now accounts for almost half of the world’s tissue
machine capacity.
3. Tissue is a “local” business. This means that most regional
tissue production stays close to home (versus other grades such as
market pulp and containerboard, which are routinely shipped to far
away markets). Over 95% of North American and European tissue
production stays in their own markets.
Global tissue production by region
Source: FisherSolve
2. Population and urbanization drive tissue production. The
graph below illustrates the top tissue producing countries. China’s
capacity is much larger than the next several countries combined;
the United States is also a very important tissue producer, with
about half of China’s capacity.
Source: FisherSolve
4. New investment in tissue has been driven by Asia, which
accounts for 70% of total global new machine capacity since 2010.
The chart below illustrates new capacity by machine build year and
provides an indication of where capital has been flowing. Asian
investments have been mostly in China, which has now resulted in a
significant overhang.
Top tissue producing countries
Source: FisherSolve
Source: FisherSolve
21

Paperturn flipbook system