White Paperboard Business

Major Initiatives and Achievements in FY2024

Strengthening of our proposal and production capabilities tailored to users’ needs

In FY2024, our mainstay packaging business was significantly affected as consumers restrained purchases in response to rising prices. However, through flexible product proposals and a production system tailored to the needs of printing and processing companies as well as end users, we offset much of this impact. With increased orders for new products in the food, toy, and pharmaceutical sectors, overall sales grew for the business. Our subsidiary Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd. is expanding its receipt of orders for large-scale projects in areas of packaging materials with room for growth, including food containers and confectionery packaging, while also making capital investments. The company will also stably supply TOHEI-PAK brand containers for milk and other beverages. Through collaborations with us, the company will widen synergies in raw material procurement and in research and development.

Promotion of plastic-free container development through Group collaboration

In the field of food packaging and other paper-based containers, our company and Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd. have engaged in end-to-end production spanning from the development of base paper and paper materials to processed products. We are now moving forward with the construction of a new Group cooperative structure for paper container base paper and processed paper. In FY2024, we advanced the development of base paper for primary food containers and frozen food containers, mainly in the Paper Cup Business Development Office, and worked to establish quality in line with user needs and expand sales channels. In addition, we secured development projects that span across the Paper, White Paperboard, and Performance Materials businesses, thereby contributing to the promotion of our Group’s development activities.

Major products (brands)

Business Strategy Going Forward

Establishment of a production and sales structure that captures changes in markets

Amid expectations for difficult conditions in the paper and pulp industry overall, we aim to secure a higher market share year on year in the domestic industry by flexibly adapting to changes in demand trends. In the White Paperboard Business, while maintaining strong relationships with customers in areas of expected ongoing demand decline, we will expand our sales channels through active sales activities in areas of expected demand growth, such as trading cards and primary food containers. We will roll out marketing activities in overseas markets, highlighting our quality and special characteristics. In the U.S. market, we aim to build a stable sales structure to meet expected demand for white paperboard, including from overseas customers with whom we engage in the paper business. The transition to digital media has created an urgent issue in the difficulty of obtaining recycled paper. Our Kanto Mill Ichikawa and Kanto Mill Katsuta have raw materials procurement capabilities that leverage their metropolitan suburban locations. The mills are also moving forward with equipment projects capable of adapting to a variety of recycled paper sources to maintain stable operations, while striving to create second-to-none quality and to reduce costs through operational streamlining and other means. In the area of packaging, we will work to increase profit through strengthened in-house production, following the completed installation of printing machinery for packaging containers and other construction work to increase production at Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd.

Expansion of sales channels for plastic-free containers

We will focus efforts on development and proposals for paper container base paper and processed paper that meet needs for plastic-free products, on capturing development projects through deep understanding of user needs together with printing and processing companies, and on base paper development and quality improvements aimed at adoption of our products. In the area of processed paper, we will continue advancing the development of base paper together with Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd. By imbuing base paper with functionality through coating and lamination, we will develop plastic-free, reduced-plastic, and other packaging products based on paper materials that contribute to an environmentally friendly and sustainable society.

Development of Halopack^® environmentally friendly paper packaging and expansion of sales channels

Demand for paper materials in food containers is increasing amid the need for plastic-free products. However, standalone paper materials present issues in the areas of oil resistance, water resistance, and shelf life. Hokuetsu Package Co., Ltd. has acquired exclusive manufacturing and sales rights in the Japanese market for Halopack^®, a high-performance paper container that seals processed food using paper and easily removed film. This environmentally friendly packaging enhances container functionality with convenient post-use separation of the paper portion from the soiled film portion inside the container. The full-scale commercial production of this product started in FY2024. In FY2025, we are working toward further adoption through approaches in food-related and other fields.

The specifications of the inner film material can be varied for use with ovens, microwave ovens, and other cooking methods.