Development Trends and Competitive Market Structure of Pulp and Paper Products in Ukraine

Options of use of cardboard and paper packaging for goods and meeting the population's needs in hygiene products depends on the development of the pulp and paper products market.

It is established that there are more than 2,5 thousand enterprises in the Ukrainian market of pulp and paper products yet 50 % of all products are produced by the 42 largest enterprises. The analysis of statistical data shows that the import of uncoated paper and cardboard significantly ex- ceeds the export. The import of corrugated paper and cardboard, on the contrary, is lower than the export and is less than 1 %. Imports of household and sanitary paper are approximately equal to ex- ports, but we can note its growth during 2020. Insignificant production of domestic pulp and wood pulp makes the Ukrainian pulp and paper industry very dependent on imports of raw materials. Dur- ing 2015–2020, the production and import of household and sanitary paper show a steady upward trend, and the production, export, and import of uncoated and corrugated paper and cardboard are characterized by instability.

Therefore, Ukrainian pulp and paper industry enterprises need to increase the number of waste collection points and to use innovative technologies to process straw for paper production. Coronavi- rus and quarantine restrictions in 2020 led to an increase in waste paper prices in Europe, first due to limited quantities and then due to growing demand. These prices increased in 2021 and not only in Europe but also in Ukraine, which causes rising prices for pulp and paper products.

Analysis of the box cardboard market in Ukraine shows that in 2020 it was occupied by a large share of PJSC «KKPK» – 17 %, its share in the market of recycled coated cardboard is even greater – 44 %. There is strong competition in the market of liner products, which includes towels and toilet pa- per, but in 2020 it also retained the position of the leader of PJSC «KKPK», its share in this market was 42 %.

Increased competition in the market of pulp and paper products forces its producers to pay more attention to the promotion of their products, including using the Internet. As part of the im- provement of Internet communications, it is advisable to conduct SEO of the enterprise's website in order to increase traffic and convert visitors into customers by increasing the rank of the website. It is also advisable for manufacturers to create promotional websites for individual brands of their prod- ucts in order to disseminate information about the company's paper products to target audiences. For promotional websites, considerable attention should be paid to the quality of advertising texts.