# Paper and packaging: Follow one offering through the chain Pulp and paper mills and converters making boxes, cartons, sacks and tissue Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/story/ #### Follow one offering through the chain **1** Example story · 6 steps · India ### A folding carton from Bhadrachalam board Follow a printed carton from a farmer's eucalyptus plot in Telangana to a packed shop shelf. 1 / 6 · Fibre sourcing #### Eucalyptus grown on farmers' fields **65,000 ha**ITC plantation coverage, FY25 The board starts as clonal eucalyptus, subabul and casuarina grown by farmers on their own land around ITC's Bhadrachalam mill in Telangana. ITC says about 65,000 hectares were planted in FY25, and over 25,000 farmers are in its FSC-certified plantations, from which it bought nearly 4.85 lakh tonnes of wood. IPMA says 97-98% of India's pulpwood comes from outside forests.^[1](https://indiacsr.in/itc-grows-plantation-area-by-30-in-fy25-to-boost-wood-sustainability/)^,^[2](https://ipmaindia.org/overview-2/) **Constraint** Mills depend on wood grown nearby; ITC already draws nearly 10% of its wood from new areas in Odisha and Chhattisgarh (FY25). [Tm Timber](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lumber/)[H₂O Water](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/water/)[N Nitrogen (ammonia)](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nitrogen/)[Wood products](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wood_products/) 2 / 6 · Fibre sourcing #### Used paper collected door to door **67,100 t**dry waste collected by ITC WOW Some fibre comes back from households and offices. ITC's WOW programme had collected 67,100 tonnes of dry waste from 1,760 municipal wards, covering over 7 million households, by March 2025, and sorted paper is sold to recycling mills. Across India, 74-76% of paper output is made from recovered fibre (IPMA), while food and medicine cartons rely more on virgin fibre.^[2](https://ipmaindia.org/overview-2/)^,^[3](https://www.itcpspd.com/Page/Wellbeing_out_of_Waste) **Constraint** Mixed, wet waste lowers fibre quality, and Indian mills top up local scrap with imports, so world scrap prices pass straight through. [Tm Timber](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lumber/)[Waste and recycling](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/waste_recycling/) 3 / 6 · Pulping #### Cooked and bleached into pulp **73 Mt**world wood pulp trade, 2024 At the mill, wood chips are cooked with caustic soda in batch digesters, washed and bleached to bright, strong pulp; the spent liquor is burned in a recovery boiler for steam and power. Mills short of fibre buy market pulp instead, and world wood pulp trade reached a record 73 million tonnes in 2024, with new supply from Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and China.^[4](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/global-forest-products-trade-and-production-show-signs-of-recovery-in-2024/en)^,^[5](https://www.valmet.com/news/press-releases/2020/valmet-to-supply-new-bleach-plant-and-upgrade-of-batch-cooking-and-fiberline-to-itcs-bhadrachalam-pulp-mill-in-india/) **Constraint** Pulping needs large volumes of water and steam, so drought, effluent limits or a recovery-boiler outage can curb output. [Tm Timber](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lumber/)[NaOH Caustic soda](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/caustic_soda/)[H2O2 Hydrogen peroxide](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/hydrogen_peroxide/)[CaO Lime](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/)[H₂O Water](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/water/)[Water and sanitation](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/water_sanitation/)[Wood products](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/wood_products/) 4 / 6 · Pulping #### European machines run the fibre line **1 Mt+**ITC paperboard output a year, 2025 Few firms can build modern fibre lines and board machines. Finland's Valmet won a 2020 order for a new bleach plant and an upgraded batch-cooking fibreline at Bhadrachalam, after supplying a board machine and a recovery boiler there. By March 2025 ITC's four paperboard mills turned out over 1 million tonnes a year, and it agreed to buy Century's 480,000-tonne Lalkuan mill.^[5](https://www.valmet.com/news/press-releases/2020/valmet-to-supply-new-bleach-plant-and-upgrade-of-batch-cooking-and-fiberline-to-itcs-bhadrachalam-pulp-mill-in-india/)^,^[7](https://itcportal.com/media-centre/itc-stories/itc-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-pulp---paper-undertaking-.html) **Constraint** Large lines and spares come from a few European makers such as Valmet, Andritz and Voith, so expansions queue for their order books. [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Ni Nickel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/)[Cr Chromium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/chromium/)[Str Starch and cellulose derivatives](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/)[Machinery and equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/machinery/) 5 / 6 · Paper and board making #### Formed and coated into boxboard **1.76 Mt**paper imports, April-December 2024 The board machine lays several fibre layers into one sheet, presses it, dries it over steam-heated cylinders and coats it with clay and pigment for a smooth, printable face. Domestic mills face cheaper imports: India's paper and paperboard imports rose 20% to 1.76 million tonnes in April-December 2024, much of it virgin board from Indonesia, China and the rest of ASEAN (IPMA).^[6](https://www.outlookbusiness.com/economy-and-policy/paper-paperboard-imports-surge-20-in-apr-dec-ipma) **Constraint** Board making needs large amounts of steam from coal and biomass, while cheap ASEAN and Chinese board caps the prices Indian mills can charge. [Kao Kaolin & clays](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/)[TiO2 Titanium dioxide](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/titanium_dioxide/)[Str Starch and cellulose derivatives](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/starch_derivatives/)[H₂O Water](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/water/)[Tc Thermal coal](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/thermal_coal/)[Water and sanitation](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/water_sanitation/) 6 / 6 · Converting #### Printed, cut and glued into cartons **16 kg**paper used per Indian a year A converter prints the board on offset or gravure presses, varnishes it, die-cuts and creases it, and glues it into flat cartons for food, medicine and cosmetics brands. Demand has room to grow: Indians use only about 16 kg of paper each a year against a world average of 57 kg, and every extra kilogram a head adds about 1 million tonnes of demand (IPMA).^[2](https://ipmaindia.org/overview-2/) **Constraint** Food-contact cartons need low-migration inks and coatings, and plastic-laminated board is harder to recycle under India's packaging EPR rules. [Pig Organic pigments](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/pigments/)[Adh Adhesives and sealants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/adhesives/)[Pnt Paints and coatings](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paints_coatings/)[LLDPE Polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE)](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/polyethylene/)[Plastic and rubber products](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/plastic_rubber/) #### What the chain shows Farm-grown pulpwood is India's quiet strength; the pinch points are water, imported machines and cheap Asian board. Sources 1. [ITC grows plantation area by 30% in FY25 to boost wood sustainability](https://indiacsr.in/itc-grows-plantation-area-by-30-in-fy25-to-boost-wood-sustainability/) India CSR, 2025 2. [Indian paper industry: overview](https://ipmaindia.org/overview-2/) Indian Paper Manufacturers Association, 2025 3. [Well-being Out of Waste](https://www.itcpspd.com/Page/Wellbeing_out_of_Waste) ITC Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, 2025 4. [Global forest products trade and production show signs of recovery in 2024](https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/global-forest-products-trade-and-production-show-signs-of-recovery-in-2024/en) FAO, 2025 5. [Valmet to supply new bleach plant and upgrade of batch cooking and fiberline to ITC's Bhadrachalam pulp mill in India](https://www.valmet.com/news/press-releases/2020/valmet-to-supply-new-bleach-plant-and-upgrade-of-batch-cooking-and-fiberline-to-itcs-bhadrachalam-pulp-mill-in-india/) Valmet, 2020 6. [Paper and paperboard imports surge 20% in Apr-Dec: IPMA](https://www.outlookbusiness.com/economy-and-policy/paper-paperboard-imports-surge-20-in-apr-dec-ipma) Outlook Business, 2025 7. [ITC announces strategic acquisition of Century Pulp and Paper undertaking](https://itcportal.com/media-centre/itc-stories/itc-announces-strategic-acquisition-of-pulp---paper-undertaking-.html) ITC Limited, 2025 ## Other sections - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/index.md) - [Where ₹100 goes](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/cost-mix/index.md) - [Price links with suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/price-links/index.md) - [Linked industries](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/linked-industries/index.md) - [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/value-chain/index.md) - [Materials drawn on](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/materials/index.md) - [Chokepoints and risks](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/risks/index.md) - [Sources](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/sources/index.md)