Die-Cut Paper and Paperboard and Cardboard

Products in this industry classification include pasted chip board; bottle caps and tops; cardboard foundations and cutouts; pasted, laminated line and surface coated paperboard; plain paper cards; tabulating cards; die-cut paper and paperboard; egg cartons and egg case fillers and flats; and filing folders, index cards, and paperboard library cards.

The performance of the die-cut paper and board industry was erratic in the 1990s and early 2000s. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, shipment values reached an all-time high of $2.29 billion in 1991 but fell sharply the following year to $2.01 billion before recovering to $2.02 billion in 1993 and $2.24 billion in 1994. By 1997 the value of shipments had climbed to $2.87 billion. After declining to $2.35 billion in 1998, shipments dropped further to $2.15 billion in 1999 before rebounding to $2.53 billion in 2000. The growth continued with shipment values reaching $2.69 billion in 2001 and $2.94 billion by 2005. By 2007 shipments had reached $3.50 billion.

The market for many of this industry's traditional products is a mature one. Also, many products produced by the industry are traditional office supplies, such as file folders, index cards, and paper rolls for business machines. Use of these products is said to be declining, in part due to the growing importance of electronic data transfer and electronic document management systems.

In the early 2000s, die-cut paper and board office supplies accounted for 39 percent of industry shipments (by value). Within this category, file folders represented the biggest seller, followed by hanging and expandable file folders, index cards, and report covers. The next largest category was paper supplies for business machines, which accounted for 32 percent of industry shipments. Leading products in this category were paper rolls for adding and other business machines and other unprinted paper supplies. Office supplies, the third largest category, constituted approximately 10 percent of industry shipments.

This industry manufactures a wide variety of products, yet it is closely linked to the production of corrugated boxes since many of its products are used as box inserts. Also, many products are made from recycled fiber--often 100 percent recycled fiber. The desire by consumers and businesses to buy products made from recycled materials increased demand for some products from the die-cut paper and board industry.

According to Dun & Bradstreet's 2009 Industry Reports, 400 establishments operated in the die-cut paper and board industry in the late 2000s. In this sector, New York accounted for the highest percentage of the nation's total sales, followed by California and Texas.

Die-cut paper and board industry leaders tend to be independent converters; there are few major paper companies with holdings in die-cut paper and paperboard. One of the leading companies in the late 2000s was Esselte Corp. Based in Stamford, Connecticut; Esselte did business in 120 countries and brought in annual revenues of over $1 billion. Other industry leaders were Fleer Corp. of Mount Laurel, New Jersey; Book Covers Inc. of Newark, New Jersey; and Advertising Display Co. of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Chesapeake Corp. was one of the few paper companies with a large market share in this industry through its Chesapeake Display Co. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the die-cut paper and board industry employed a total of 9,547 workers in 2007, down from 11,253 in 2004 and 13,352 in 2000. About 74 percent of employees were production workers. The annual payroll for the industry in 2007 was $344 million.