According to the latest data from the Patronizing Organization for Pulp and Paper Industry (Rompap), production of corrugated board packaging increased by 5.9% in the first nine months of 2013 against the year-earlier period, to EUR143.6 million. Almost 40% of Romanian market packaging is made of corrugated board.
“Unfortunately, consumption in Romania did not indicate an increase that should reflect in the consumption of cardboard packaging. Our business partners have not budgeted any increases for 2014 against last year as domestic consumption is not expected to bounce back this year,” Remus Craciun, general manager of Ecopack, told ZF Transilvania.
Over half of the company’s packaging production goes to the consumer goods industry. The production capacity of Ecopack plant of Ghimbav stands at 100 million square meters of corrugated board per annum.
The company is carrying out investments in new equipment for the production of large cardboard boxes specific to car industry. The investments are expected to boost the total production capacity of Ecopack plant by around 4%.
Ecopack has 212 employees and in 2013 generated revenue of EUR21 million, slightly higher than in 2012. The company plans to hire another 12 people this year.
“The business environment in Romania is immature and relatively unregulated. The legislative and executive frameworks have nothing to do with the concrete realities and law interpretation and endorsement gaps render sustainable growth impossible,” said Ecopack head.
Ecopack company is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and is controlled by Kameran Financial, registered in Switzerland.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)