New Orleans, Louisiana

A tropical storm tried pummeling its way into New Orleans, Louisiana, this past September 17-18. While the city's people and businesses prepared for its potential onset by battening down the hatches and bagging sand, delegates from around the world attended the 8th International Containerboard Conference only to face a few stormy industry facts of their own.

Conference attendees were exposed to current industry topics presented by converters, consultants and economic experts, such as international statistics on consumption, capacity and growth expectations; supply chain management; Asia's economic crisis; and trends in graphics, design and preprint.

Peter Cardellichio, vice president and director of Asian service for Resource Information Services Inc. (RISI), spelled out Asia's recent fallout and its harrowing effect on the containerboard industry. He also dispelled a few generalities often made about the region. "Usually, to see how well Asia is doing, you look at China and Japan," he said. "However, now the smaller countries are having quite a bit of influence on Asia's success." He also shared RISI's short- and long-term predictions for the Asian region, including expected kraftliner and testliner imports and how their shifts will affect linerboard exporters.

Another speaker, Matt Berler, a principal for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, addressed the the globalization-or lack thereof-of the containerboard industry. "When compared to other industries," said Berler, "the U.S. paper industry is surprisingly non-global, with only 14% of revenues derived from non-North American sources versus an average of 22% for the 18 largest industries in the S&P 500." Berler attributed this low number to the fact that so few large containerboard companies are geographically diversified in terms of their production assets, suggesting that, in practice, international expansion is not as attractive as it is in theory.

Sarilee Norton, vice president of Tenneco Inc., presented information on the opportunities available for the use of both paper and plastic in packaging. She encouraged converters to look at different substrates as friendly competitors not as battling enemies. "As converters, we need to recognize that customers measure value in terms of functionality, not material," said Norton. She emphasized the need for innovation, acting proactively and remaining positive, recognizing the value and purpose of other materials.

Other presenters included Rob Jan Renders of SCA Packaging, Simon Kennedy of Klabin Faricadora de Papel e Celulose SA and Ralph Young of Mead Containerboard.

For more information on the International Containerboard Conference, see Chip Dillon's article on page 28.