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About the Paper and Packaging Industry

The global packaging market has recently experienced a notable decline in sales. However, in 2010, the global packaging market recovered to reach a total market value in 2010 of $670 billion. In 2011, the global packaging market is expected to reach around $700 billion, with the majority of growth coming from growing demand for emerging economies, such as China and India.

The global packaging industry breaks down into type of material and by type of use, such as plastic packaging or glass packaging; or food use or pharmaceutical use. There are also types of packaging, such as cartons or pouches, some of which (pouches) are showing significant growth in use.

The folding carton packaging sector is growing, for example. Consumption of cartonboard totalled 40 million tonnes in 2010, and was valued at some $78 billion. The global rigid packaging market is set to grow by more than five percent to 2016, reaching 55.5 million tonnes in volume.

Many of the fastest growing packaging markets are in Asia, including China and India. In particular, Chinas is a major exporter of a range of industrial and consumer products, all of which require packaging. China is a major exporter of toys, small electric appliances and cosmetics, all of which need specific packaging (principally plastic packaging).

The fastest growing sector of the packaging market has been seen in rigid plastic packaging, propelled by replacement of metal cans and glass bottles by PET. This is a similar trend seen in food, cosmetics and healthcare sectors. Furthermore, growth in packaged food consumption (for convenience) has driven demand for both rigid plastics packaging and flexibles packaging. Within the flexibles packaging sector, foil packaging has shown the most rapid growth, due to its use in blister packaging in pharmaceutical applications.

The plastics packaging market is highly fragmented in comparison with other packaging media, meaning that suppliers cannot pass raw material price increases onto the consumer, due to intense competition. Paper board packaging market is the largest sector within the packaging industry, valued at some $200 billion. Metal cans are being replaced by plastics packaging in beverage applications. In the same way, glass packaging is being replaced by plastics packaging in food, drink and other end-user areas.

Leading Consumer Packaging Companies

Tetra Pak

Tetra Pak Ltd. manufactures aseptic laminated paperboard packaging materials used to store liquids such as milk and juice and shelf-stable processed foods such as tomatoes and tuna. The company sells close to 3 billion packages a year to customers in the UK; the cartons are comprised of approximately 75% paperboard. In an effort to limit its contribution to waste products, Tetra Pak Ltd. is active in establishing recycling facilities for its used packaging, which is turned into construction materials. Tetra Pak Ltd. is the UK arm of Swiss packaging manufacturer Tetra Pak, itself a subsidiary of Tetra Laval International.

Amcor

Amcor Limited is engaged in business of packaging solutions supplying a range of plastic (rigid & flexible), fibre, metal and glass packaging products. The Company operates in four segments: Rigid Plastics, Australasia and Packaging Distribution, Flexibles and Other/Investments. On August 3, 2010 the Company completed the purchase of the Ball Plastics Packaging Americas assets. On February 2, 2010, the Company announced the completion of the acquisition of certain parts of the Alcan Packaging operations. The Company acquired 100% of Alcan Packaging Food Europe, Alcan Packaging Global Pharmaceuticals, Alcan Packaging Food Asia and Alcan Packaging Global Tobacco. On 1 July 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of the Alcan Medical Flexibles operations to complete the Alcan Packaging acquisition. In October 2010, the Company acquired B-Pack Due, a cast polypropylene (CPP) film manufacturer based in Italy.

Crown Holdings

Crown Holdings, Inc. is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of packaging products for consumer goods. The Company's business is organized geographically within three divisions: Americas, European and Asia-Pacific. The Company's segments within the Americas Division are Americas Beverage and North America Food. The Company's segments within the European Division are European Beverage, European Food and European Specialty Packaging. Americas Beverage includes beverage can operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America. North America Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in the United States and Canada. European Beverage includes beverage can operations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. European Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in Europe and Africa. European Specialty Packaging includes specialty packaging operations in Europe.

Toyo Seikan Kaisha Ltd

Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Ltd. is a Japan-based packaging container manufacturer. The Company has four business segments. The Packing Container Related segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cans for canning and other metal products, as well as plastic, glass and paper products. This segment is also involved in the provision of aerosol products and other containers for filling. The Steel Plate Related segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and processed steel plates. The Functional Material segment offers disk substrates, optical function films, glazes, trace-element fertilizers, colorant and gel coat. The Others segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of hard alloy, machineries and tools, agricultural materials, as well as the sale of petroleum products. This segment is also involved in the non-life insurance agency and real estate management business.

Rexam

Rexam PLC is a global consumer packaging company. The Company's two operations are Beverage Cans and Plastic Packaging. Beverage Cans is a global beverage can maker consisting of three regional businesses: Europe & Asia, North America and South America. Plastic Packaging is a global player in rigid plastic packaging. As of December 31, 20101, Plastic Packaging had two divisions: Healthcare and Personal Care.

Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (Ball) is a supplier of metal packaging to the beverage, food and household products industries. The Company's packaging products are produced for a range of end uses and are manufactured in plants globally. It also supplies aerospace and other technologies and services to governmental and commercial customers within its aerospace and technologies segment. During the year ended December 31, 2010, its largest product lines included aluminum and steel beverage containers, which accounted for 73% of its total net sales. It also produces steel food containers and steel aerosol containers for beverages and foods, as well as steel paint cans, decorative steel tins and aluminum slugs. It operates in four segments: metal beverage packaging, Americas and Asia; metal beverage packaging, Europe; metal food and household products packaging, Americas, and aerospace and technologies.

Owens-Illinois

Owens-Illinois, Inc. is a manufacturer of glass containers with 81 glass manufacturing plants in 21 countries. It produces glass containers for beer, ready-to-drink low alcohol refreshers, spirits, wine, food, tea, juice and pharmaceuticals. The Company also produces glass containers for soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages outside the United States. It manufactures these products in a range of sizes, shapes and colors. It has four geographical segments: Europe, North America, South America, and Asia Pacific.

Reynolds Group Holdings

Holding company Reynolds Group Holdings keeps a tight wrap on its subsidiaries. The New Zealand-based parent of aluminum foil giant Reynolds Food Packaging is owned by Graeme Hart, New Zealand's wealthiest man. Reynolds Group Holdings is divided into two segments - Food Packaging and Consumer Products. The Food Packaging division is made up of Closure Systems International, Dopaco, Evergreen Packaging, Graham Packaging, Pactiv, and SIG Combibloc. The Consumer Products division is made up of the various Reynolds brands and subsidiaries. Reynolds Group Holdings and its holding company, Packaging Holdings Limited, are affiliated with, but not legally owned by Mr. Hart's investment firm, Rank Group Limited.

Saint-Gobain

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA is a France-based producer, processor and distributor of construction and high-performance materials and packaging. The Company is engaged in four business activities: Innovative Materials, including the manufacture and distribution of flat glass, used in the automobile, construction and other sectors, as well as the production of high-performance materials, such as ceramics, plastics and abrasives, among others; Construction Products, focused on gypsum, and pipes, among other products; Building Distribution, specialized in the distribution of building materials to professionals and consumers, and Packaging, comprising the production of glass jars and bottles for foodstuff, pharmaceuticals and beverages. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA operates through its subsidiaries, including Saint-Gobain Glass France, Saint-Gobain Abrasives Inc, SEPR Italia, Maxit Group AB and Optimera AS, among others. As of December 31, 2010, the Company was 17.5%-owned by Wendel.