By Anastassios Panayotopoulos
Managing Partner, Arsis Global Consulting
From Central and Eastern Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean, corrugated packaging is going through one of the most important transformations in its history.
What used to be a stable, cost-driven sector now sits at the intersection of regulation, consolidation, cost volatility, geopolitical disruption and cyber risk.
This is no longer just a packaging discussion. It is a strategic business issue across entire industries.
1. Regulation: PPWR changes the rules
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), was published on 22 January 2025, entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will generally apply from 12 August 2026.
It turns packaging from an operational matter into a strategic one and forces redesign, traceability and recyclability across FMCG, retail, e-commerce and industrial supply chains.
Because obligations are phased in over several years, early movers will lock in structural advantage. Late movers will pay twice – in cost and in lost credibility with regulators, customers and investors.
2. Consolidation: global and regional moves
At the global level, the industry has been reshaped by two landmark deals.
- Smurfit Westrock was created in July 2024 through the combination of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock, forming one of the largest paper-based packaging groups globally.
- International Paper completed the acquisition of DS Smith in January 2025 and announced in early 2026 that it will separate into a North America-focused International Paper and a dedicated EMEA Packaging company.
Below that level, targeted regional moves matter equally for our geography.
- Dunapack (Prinzhorn) entered Italy by acquiring Scatolificio La Veggia and agreed in 2026 to acquire Stora Enso’s German corrugated plants (Gaster Wellpappe, Sausenheim, PTI).
- In Greece, DS Smith entered in 2015 by acquiring the Greek corrugated business of Çukurova Group (three plants, c.€80m turnover).
- Dunapack entered Greece in 2016 by acquiring Viokyt Packaging in Schimatari, now Dunapack Hellas.
- UNIPAKHELLAS (INDEVCO Group) took over PAKO S.A. in 2018, adding a vertically integrated recycling–paper–corrugated platform in Greece.
- Nova Packaging Hellas in Sindos, Thessaloniki, was built as a roughly €28m greenfield project by Eren Holding, the group’s first corrugated box plant outside Turkey.
Consolidation is no longer a distant headline. It defines who has paper, who has boxes and who has negotiating power in every country.
3. Greece in one page
Greece has quietly become one of the most interesting corrugated markets in Southeast Europe. Forecasts point to low single-digit volume growth – starting around 0.9% in 2025 and rising to about 1.55% by 2029 – driven by regulation, food exports and e-commerce.
Most forecasts therefore point to low single-digit volume growth (around 1–1.5% per year) for corrugated board and boxes in Greece towards 2030, with value growth depending much more on paper and energy price cycles than on structural demand.
The market is organised around a few strong platforms.
- International Paper / DS Smith Hellas – three plants (Thessaloniki, Korinthos, Ierapetra), excellent FMCG and retail reach, but no Greek containerboard mill, so paper is imported through the group network.
- Dunapack Hellas (Prinzhorn) – the modernised successor of Viokyt in Schimatari, one of the oldest corrugated producers in Greece, supplied mainly from Prinzhorn and other European mills.
- Smurfit Westrock / Smurfit Kappa Hellas – a plant in Stavrochori, Kilkis, integrated into the Smurfit Westrock European system and serving hundreds of food and industrial customers.
- Elpack Group – the largest vertically integrated Greek-owned group, combining Patras and Kapandriti corrugated plants and Fthiotis Papermill in Damasta, Lamia. Fthiotis produces recycled packaging paper from waste paper and supplies both Elpack’s own corrugated units and external customers, completing a recycling → paper → box model.
- UNIPAKHELLAS / INDEVCO – after acquiring PAKO, INDEVCO controls recovered-paper collection, recycled containerboard and corrugated packaging in Greece, plus a wider East-Med network.
- Nova Packaging Hellas / Eren Holding – a ~€28m greenfield box plant in Sindos, owned by Eren Holding and likely supplied mainly from its Turkish paper platform (Modern Karton / Eren Paper Group), built to be cost-competitive and export-capable.
Around these anchors, domestic converters like VIS, Tottis Pack, Zavalos/Cartontec, Sakis Pack and others cover regional niches and agriculture. Many of these players, together with DS Smith, Dunapack, Elpack, Nova and UNIPAKHELLAS, are members of the Hellenic Paper Packaging Association, which gives the sector a common voice.
Who buys paper from whom in Greece
If we look strictly at who buys containerboard and from where, the picture is clear.
- International Paper / DS Smith Hellas mainly imports containerboard through the international group supply chain and has no Greek containerboard mill.
- Dunapack / Prinzhorn Greece mainly imports paper from Prinzhorn group mills and other European sources and also has no Greek paper mill.
- Nova Packaging Hellas / Eren Holding is very likely supplied mainly by Eren’s Turkish paper platform, especially Modern Karton and Eren Holding Paper Group.
- UNIPAKHELLAS / INDEVCO has the strongest local integration. Through PAKO, it controls recycling, recycled containerboard and corrugated packaging in Greece.
- Elpack Group uses Fthiotis Papermill for recycled paper and containerboard grades, with raw material mainly supplied through a certain recycling platform.
- Sakis Pack, Zavalos/Cartontec, VIS and Tottis Pack are mainly converters and therefore depend mostly on purchased paper from imports and selected local suppliers, depending on grade, price and availability.
- MEL / Pak Group remains an important upstream player in Greece, but mainly in cartonboard and recycling, not as the main corrugated containerboard supplier.
Structural strength: who really has leverage?
From an industrial strategy point of view, the ranking inside Greece looks as follows.
- INDEVCO / UNIPAKHELLAS – strongest local vertical integration.
- Nova Packaging / Eren Holding – strongest Turkish-backed cost and supply position.
- International Paper / DS Smith – strongest multinational customer platform.
- Dunapack / Prinzhorn – strong group paper supply and industrial/export orientation.
- Elpack Group – strongest Greek-owned integrated platform.
- Smurfit Westrock / Smurfit Kappa Hellas – strong European group backing and a good industrial base in Kilkis.
- Sakis Pack, Zavalos/Cartontec, VIS, Tottis Pack and others – strong local, agricultural and niche players, but less structurally powerful in open-market corrugated.
4. Value chain, machinery and consumables
Corrugated is a system business. Value is created or destroyed across the whole chain: recovered paper (OCC), containerboard, corrugating, converting, printing and finishing.
In machinery, the backbone is provided by a small group of suppliers: BHS Corrugated, BW Papersystems, Fosber on the corrugator side and Bobst, EMBA and others on converting. What differentiates performance in this region is often not the nameplate, but service, response time and technical depth over time.
The consumables ecosystem mixes global and regional players.
- Starch: Roquette, Avebe, Cargill, Ingredion, Agrana.
- Adhesives: Henkel, H.B. Fuller, Jowat, Bostik, Paramelt.
- Inks: Sun Chemical, Flint Group, Siegwerk, INX, plus regional specialists like Druckfarben in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Global suppliers bring documentation and standardization. Regional suppliers often win on flexibility and closeness to the plant.
5. Pricing and geopolitics: volatility is the new normal
Since 2022, European benchmarks for OCC, containerboard and corrugated have gone through a full boom–correction–partial rebound cycle.
Key drivers are energy, recovered-paper availability, containerboard capacity balance, logistics costs, labour, plant utilisation and geopolitics.
The war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East feed directly into energy and freight costs, chemical inputs and supply-chain risk.
For corrugated producers, this is no longer abstract macroeconomics. It is daily operating reality.
6. From procurement to strategy
Corrugated packaging is no longer a commodity business in the old sense. It is a cost driver, a regulatory exposure, a supply-chain risk and a strategic lever for performance.
The companies and investors who understand this early – and connect strategy with daily execution – will hold a clear advantage over those who still treat corrugated packaging as a pure procurement topic.
After three decades across FMCG, retail and industrial environments, including direct exposure to packaging and transformation, one conclusion stands out: most companies still underestimate packaging. They treat it as procurement. It should be treated as strategy.
Sources and bibliography
- PPWR and regulation
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on Packaging and Packaging Waste, Official Journal of the European Union, published 22 January 2025; entered into force 11 February 2025; generally applicable from 12 August 2026.
Intertek, “EU publishes Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on Packaging and Packaging Waste,” published 5 February 2025.
Circularise, “Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR): A guide to compliance timelines and mass balance solutions,” published 30 March 2026. - Global and regional M&A
Smurfit Westrock, “Smurfit Westrock Makes Its Debut in New York and London,” published 7 July 2024.
International Paper, “International Paper Completes Acquisition of DS Smith,” published 31 January 2025.
Dunapack / Prinzhorn, “Prinzhorn Group steps in Italy,” published 5 December 2022; subsequent investment update published 10 September 2023.
Paper Advance, “Dunapack signs deal for Stora Enso German plants,” published 21 April 2026.
DS Smith, “Acquisition of Greek corrugated packaging business,” published 13 October 2015.
EUWID Pulp & Paper, “DS Smith buying Greek corrugated packaging business,” published 13 October 2015. - UNIPAKHELLAS / INDEVCO – PAKO
EUWID Pulp & Paper, “Indevco subsidiary Unipak Hellas takes over Pako,” published 6 September 2018.
UNIPAKHELLAS / INDEVCO, acquisition and exhibition coverage regarding PAKO, published October 2018. - Nova / Eren Holding
Voria.gr, “Nova Packaging: Επένδυση 28 εκατ. στη ΒΙΠΕ Σίνδου από ξένο όμιλο,” published 21 March 2017.
Evocon, “Nova Packaging’s Journey to Excellence,” published 2025.
UK packaging industry acquisition coverage referring to Nova Paper & Packaging B.V. as owned by Eren Holding, published January 2026. - Elpack and Fthiotis Papermill
Elpack Group corporate information and history pages, accessed 2026.
LinkedIn company profile and third-party recycling/paper sector references, accessed 2026. - Smurfit Westrock / Smurfit Kappa Hellas
Smurfit Kappa Hellas “About us” and locations pages, accessed 2026. - Greek corrugated market growth
6Wresearch, “Greece Corrugated Board Packaging Market (2025–2031),” published 2024.
6Wresearch, “Greece Corrugated Paper and Paperboard Market (2026–2032),” published 2024. - HPPA and Greek converters
Hellenic Paper Packaging Association (HPPA), “Establishment of the Hellenic Paper Packaging Association,” published 2022.
Company websites and public company profiles for VIS, Tottis Pack, Zavalos/Cartontec and Sakis Pack, accessed 2026. - Consumables and machinery
BHS Corrugated, BW Papersystems, Fosber – company profiles and service network pages, accessed 2026.
Roquette, Avebe, Henkel, H.B. Fuller, Jowat, Bostik, Paramelt – starch and adhesive supplier information, accessed 2026.
Sun Chemical, Flint Group, Siegwerk, INX, Druckfarben – packaging ink manufacturers and regional footprint references, accessed 2026. - Pricing and global corrugated context
EUWID and Fastmarkets indicative pricing references for OCC, containerboard and corrugated, 2022–2026.
Smithers, “World Corrugated Packaging Market Returns to Growth Trajectory,” published 2023. - Industry structure and definitions
FEFCO – European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers, publicly available statistics, manuals and industry fact sheets on the European corrugated sector, accessed 2026
Disclaimer
This article is an analytical commentary based exclusively on publicly available and published information from company websites, investor releases, trade publications, association materials and other open sources available at the time of writing.
It is written in good faith for industry discussion and strategic analysis. It does not claim access to confidential information, non-public company data, internal contracts, unpublished financial records or undisclosed shareholder arrangements.
Where ownership structures, sourcing flows, capacities or strategic positioning are not expressly disclosed by the companies concerned, the text uses cautious wording such as “likely,” “mainly,” “appears,” or “based on published sources” in order to distinguish clearly between documented facts and reasoned interpretation.
All company names, trademarks and references to transactions remain the property of their respective owners. Any valuations, rankings, strategic assessments or competitive interpretations in this article are the author’s own professional opinions based on the published record and should not be read as statements of wrongdoing, misconduct or any unlawful activity by any company, shareholder, manager or adviser.
The purpose of the article is to support informed business dialogue on the corrugated packaging industry in EMEA and Greece. If any company believes that a factual point requires updating, clarification or correction on the basis of newer published information, such clarification would be welcome in the spirit of accuracy and professional dialogue.
