Production of corrugated cardboard boxes by Ukraine’s leading companies in the industry in August 2026 decreased by 11% compared to August of last year—to 46 million square meters, according to data from the “UkrPapier” association.
Compared to July of this year, corrugated packaging output decreased by approximately 8%.
The decline in finished packaging output was accompanied by a reduction in the production of raw materials for it. In August, companies produced 33,100 metric tons of packaging board, including paper for corrugation, which is 7.8% less than last year’s figure.
Total cardboard production amounted to 42 thousand metric tons, down 3.1% year-over-year.
August’s performance contrasts with last year’s results. By the end of 2025, Ukrainian companies had increased production of corrugated cardboard boxes by 2.1%—to 599.6 million square meters.
Corrugated packaging is widely used in the food industry, e-commerce, logistics, consumer goods manufacturing, and export shipments; therefore, its production volume serves as an indicator of activity across several economic sectors.
According to previously published data from the association, in the first seven months of 2026, corrugated packaging production also lagged behind last year’s level by approximately 2.7%. August significantly exacerbated this downward trend.
Under martial law, the “UkrPapier” Association does not publish individual production figures for each company.
Source: “UkrBumaga”.
CARDBOARD, CORRUGATED PACKAGING, PACKAGING, PRODUCTION, UKRAINE
In January-April, Trypillia Packaging Plant (TUP, Ukrainka, Kyiv region), a subsidiary of Rubizhne Cardboard and Packaging Plant, which has stopped operations in Luhansk region, increased its corrugated packaging output by 24.7% year-on-year to 53.4 million square meters in January-April.
According to statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine by UkrPapir Association, the mill has thus slightly accelerated the growth rate of corrugated packaging output compared to the same period last year – in January-March it was 20.8%, and in January-February it was 12.3%.
The plant consistently ranks second in corrugated packaging production after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (73.1 million square meters).
In particular, in April, TUK increased its corrugated packaging production by 37% year-on-year and by 3.2% year-on-year to 14 million square meters.
In monetary terms, TUK’s production increased by 9% over the four months to UAH 872.4 million.
In January-April, the major companies in the industry that provided data to Ukrpapir increased production of cardboard boxes by 21.6% to 187.4 million square meters.
As reported, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rubizhne Pulp and Paper Mill together with TUK were the market leaders in the corrugated packaging market in Ukraine.
After the destruction, the plant in Rubizhne shut down, and the legal entity Rubizhne CTC was re-registered in Kyiv.
TUC produces a wide range of corrugated cardboard products for food, industrial goods, and chemicals. Among its customers are Roshen, Coca-Cola, MHP agricultural holding, and Lactalis Group.
In 2023, Trypillia Paper Mill increased its sales volume by 13.7% compared to 2022, to UAH 2 billion 480 million, while corrugated packaging production increased by 17.9% to 145.8 million square meters.
In January-February, Poninkivska Cardboard and Paper Mill-Ukraine (PCPM-Ukraine, Khmelnytsky region), a major Ukrainian corrugated cardboard producer, increased its output of corrugated packaging by almost 30% compared to the same period in 2022, to 12.41 million square meters.
According to Ukrpapir Association statistics provided to Interfax-Ukraine, the mill is still among the top three producers of corrugated packaging after Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill and Trypillia Packaging Mill, and is still the fastest growing.
As reported, according to data collected by the association from the industry’s major enterprises, a total of 78.5 million square meters of cardboard boxes were produced in Ukraine over two months, down only 0.6% from the almost pre-war January-February period last year.
According to UkrPapir, Poninkivska KBF-Ukraine produced a total of UAH 417.44 million worth of products in two months, up 27.9% year-on-year.
In physical terms, paper production also increased by 21.6% to 107 tons and production of containerboard by 12.4% to 11.54 thousand tons.
Poninkivske Mill (formerly Poninkivske Cardboard and Paper Mill), once the largest producer of school notebooks, now has one main production line – paper and cardboard, producing mainly corrugated cardboard and corrugated packaging, as well as wrapping and waste paper.
The mill is part of the United Cardboard Company-Ukraine (UCC, Lutsk), whose production assets include, among others, Lutsk KBF-Ukraine (Volyn region), which produced 8.8 thousand tons of cardboard in January-February (according to Ukrpapir), up 18.7%, including 5.76 thousand tons of containerboard (+8.2%).
As reported, in 2022, Poninkivska KBF-Ukraine produced products worth UAH 2 billion 446 million, up 6.5% year-on-year.
Production of paper and cardboard in Ukraine in January-May of this year decreased by 44.7% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 198.2 thousand tons, corrugated packaging – by 57%, to 126.9 million sq. m, according to the statistics of the association “UkrPapir”.
According to the statistics provided by the association to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, if in January of this year the production of paper and cardboard lagged behind last year by 4.6%, and corrugated boxes exceeded by 3.5%, then already in January-March, taking into account suspension of many enterprises with the beginning of a full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the production of these products decreased by 44% and 54%, respectively.
At the same time, some of the enterprises that stopped work at the beginning of the war never resumed it – in particular, due to the damage received in Rubizhne, the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of corrugated packaging, the Rubezhnoye Cardboard and Container Plant, stopped working (but its “daughter” in the Kyiv region – Trypilsky packing plant).
According to information in the disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market (NKTSBFR), a remote extraordinary meeting of the plant’s shareholders is scheduled for July 4 with the issue of transferring the location of the Rubezhsky CPC legal entity to Kyiv.
According to UkrPapir, the damaged Rogan cardboard factory in the Kharkiv region has not resumed work (and does not plan to).
From the producers of corrugated packaging, Dunapak Tavria LLC, located in the Kherson region, also does not work (it produced boxes for Novaya Poshta – IF), and the Mena Pak company in the Chernihiv region, according to information available to the association, was able to resume work in May.
Zmievskaya paper mill (Kharkiv region) after three months of forced downtime in May reported the production of 1863 tons of recycled paper against 783 tons in May 2021.
At the same time, after the February suspension of production, the industry leader Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill has been operating since March (in terms of the production of corrugated packaging last year – the second after Rubezhansky CPC), Zhydachevsky Pulp and Paper (Lvov region) and Izmail Cardboard (Odessa region), Malinsky paper factory and “Papir-Mal” (Zhytomyr region)
In addition, according to statistics, the Lviv Cardboard and Paper Company did not stop working, maintaining the output of paper and cardboard in January-May at the level of last year, Poninkovskaya (Khmelnytsky region) and Lutsk (Volyn region) cardboard and paper factories, Kokhavinskaya paper mill (Lviv region).
As reported, in 2021, the production of paper and cardboard in Ukraine increased by 9.8% by 2020, to 898.2 thousand tons, corrugated boxes – by 5.9% to 752.9 million square meters.
Association “UkrPapir” unites 35 enterprises and companies, in particular 20 manufacturers of cardboard and paper products and printing enterprises, 11 distributors, two suppliers and suppliers of waste paper.
Rubizhne cardboard and packaging mill (Luhansk region), a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of cardboard packaging, in January-July 2021, taking into account the products of the subsidiary Trypilsky packing plant (Kyiv region), produced 157 million square meters of corrugated boxes, which is 13.7% more year-over-year.
According to the statistical data of the UkrPapir association provided to Interfax-Ukraine, Rubizhne cardboard and packaging mill slowed down the increase in the output of these products compared to the same period in 2020 (in January-June 2021 it was 17.1%, in January-May some 11.8%) and consolidated its leadership in Ukraine.
During this period, the mills in quantity terms increased the production of components for corrugated board (cardboard and corrugated paper) by 14.1%, to 138,330 tonnes.
At the same time, the total volume of commercial products of the two plants in monetary terms increased by 40.6%, to UAH 3.068 billion.
Rubizhne cardboard and packaging mill (Luhansk region), a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of cardboard packaging, in January-June 2021, taking into account the products of the subsidiary Trypilsky packing plant (Kyiv region), produced 135.15 million square meters of corrugated boxes, which is 17.1% more year-over-year.
According to the statistical data of the UkrPapir association provided to Interfax-Ukraine, Rubizhne cardboard and packaging mill accelerated the increase in the output of these products a little more compared to the same period in 2020 (in January-April 2021 it was 9.4%, in January-May some 11.8%) and consolidated its leadership in Ukraine.
During this period, the mills in quantity terms increased the production of components for corrugated board (cardboard and corrugated paper) by 14.8%, to 118,840 tonnes.
At the same time, the total volume of commercial products of the two plants in monetary terms increased by 37.5%, to UAH 2.542 billion.
CORRUGATED PACKAGING, OUTPUT, RUBIZHNE, RUBIZHNE CARDBOARD MILL
