LatamCORR returns to Mexico City on June 9–10, 2027. Behind the event is a corrugated market tied to US$871.6 billion in U.S.–Mexico goods trade, concentrated in a handful of industrial states and increasingly shaped by automation, flexibility and cross-border supply chains.
US$319.7 million of corrugated-paperboard boxes left Mexico for international markets in 2024.
US$308.1 million went to the United States – 96.4% of the total.
Exporter-reported WITS data also put Mexico ahead of China and Canada as the largest source of corrugated-box exports to the U.S. in 2024: Mexico at US$308.1 million, China at US$294.0 million and Canada at US$228.1 million.
Now add the people. On June 9–10, 2027, LatamCORR will return to Mexico City at Hilton Mexico City Reforma together with LatamPaper Mexico 2027. Its previous combined edition in Buenos Aires registered 490 participants from 30 countries, including more than 330 manufacturers and converters representing 168 plants and companies.
That combination — a deeply integrated North American packaging market and a room full of plant decision-makers — is why Mexico deserves attention well before the exhibition doors open.
Exports rose 40% in four years
Mexico’s corrugated-box exports have risen steadily in value:
- 2020 — US$227.7 million
- 2021 — US$275.3 million
- 2022 — US$291.8 million
- 2023 — US$297.7 million
- 2024 — US$319.7 million
From 2020 to 2024, export value increased by about 40.4%, equivalent to roughly 8.9% compound annual growth in nominal terms.
The U.S. share remained exceptionally high: about 93.6% in 2020 and 96.4% in 2024.
These are trade-value figures, not corrugated-board production volume. Prices, product mix and reporting can change the dollar number, so they should not be converted directly into square metres or tonnes. But as a signal of cross-border packaging activity, the direction is clear.
A US$1.1 billion two-way corrugated-box trade
Mexico is not simply shipping boxes north.
WITS reports about US$788.1 million of corrugated-box imports into Mexico in 2024, with approximately US$663.1 million — about 84% — coming from the United States. Data México reports the same market at roughly US$1.1 billion in total 2024 trade.
That two-way flow matters because Mexican manufacturing is integrated into supply chains in which components, materials and finished goods can cross the border repeatedly.
In 2025, U.S.–Mexico goods trade reached about US$871.6 billion. U.S. imports from Mexico alone were US$534.3 billion.
For corrugated producers, the implication is simple: packaging demand is being created not only by domestic consumption, but by the movement of goods through one of the world’s largest manufacturing corridors.
How big is Mexico’s domestic corrugated market?
The newest fully comparable public country-level production data remain incomplete.
In corruga.expert’s 2026 global ranking, Mexico was No. 16 using the latest fully public comparable figure available to us: 3.254 billion m² of corrugated board in 2021.
That figure should not be presented as Mexico’s current 2026 output. ICCA’s newer country-level production statistics are available to members, while public releases are regional rather than country-by-country.
That limitation matters. A 2021 m² figure and a 2024 trade-value figure measure different things. Until a newer verified national production figure becomes public, it is better to avoid false precision than manufacture a current market-size estimate.
Five states account for nearly 69% of corrugated-box exports
The geography is one of the most useful parts of the story for plant and equipment strategy.
In 2024, the five leading states for corrugated-box export value were:
- Baja California — US$70.9 million
- Jalisco — US$46.5 million
- Nuevo León — US$39.0 million
- Chihuahua — US$35.7 million
- Sonora — US$28.7 million
Together, they accounted for about US$220.8 million, or almost 69% of Mexico’s reported corrugated-box exports.
Four of those five — Baja California, Nuevo León, Chihuahua and Sonora — are northern states. Together they represented about 54% of national export value.
That concentration changes the CAPEX conversation. Corrugated operations serving export manufacturing in the north face tight delivery windows, demanding transport cycles and customers whose production schedules are linked to U.S. plants. For those converters, uptime, fast changeovers, traceability, consistent board performance and damage reduction can matter more than nominal machine speed alone.
Jalisco adds a different dimension: a major industrial and consumer base farther from the border, showing that Mexico’s corrugated opportunity is not only a maquiladora story.
What Mexico’s factories put into corrugated boxes
Mexico’s packaging demand comes from a broad manufacturing mix: automotive components, electronics, appliances, aerospace, food and beverages, medical devices, chemicals, consumer goods and industrial parts.
Automotive is useful as one example of scale, not as the centre of the story. Mexico produced 3.95 million light vehicles in 2025. In 2024, vehicle exports were worth about US$104.8 billion and auto-parts exports about US$106 billion.
Corrugated packaging captures only a fraction of that value. What matters is the physical flow around it: components, replacement parts, electronics, tooling and industrial supplies that must be protected, consolidated, stored and moved between plants and across borders.
Food and perishables create a different corrugated challenge. Ventilation, moisture resistance, stacking strength, print quality and export logistics can matter more than heavy-duty protection.
Electronics, appliances and medical devices add another requirement: dimensional consistency, clean converting, protective inserts, traceability and reliable print or labelling.
One country, several corrugated markets — and several different reasons to invest.
Five investment tests for Mexican corrugated plants before 2027
The useful question is not “Which machine should Mexico buy?” It is “Where is this plant losing saleable output, quality or margin?”
1. Changeovers and scheduling
Measure changeover minutes, schedule adherence, short-run waste and stops caused by planning rather than equipment. Automation is valuable only when it converts those losses into additional saleable production.
2. Board and print quality
Track warp, caliper variation, compression performance, print register, rejects and customer claims. Inspection and process-control systems make the strongest case when they reduce measurable quality loss.
3. Heavy-duty and moisture-resistant packaging
For industrial, automotive, agricultural and food customers, test compression after realistic humidity and transport exposure. Tie the business case to product damage, over-specification, paper consumption and claims.
4. Converting flexibility
Shorter runs and more SKU complexity increase the value of faster setups, automated job changes, digital workflows and, for the right mix, digital printing. Compare setup waste and productive minutes before buying more gross capacity.
5. ERP, MES and traceability
Cross-border supply chains punish information gaps. Measure WIP visibility, re-keying, late schedule changes, stock accuracy and on-time delivery before deciding whether software integration will create a real return.
There is no responsible universal payback period for these investments. A six-month ROI claim without plant-specific baseline data is marketing, not analysis. The right CAPEX decision begins with measured losses on the actual line.
Who already has scale in Mexico
The competitive landscape is substantial.
Bio Pappel’s Titán business describes itself as Mexico’s national leader in containerboard, corrugated packaging and multi-wall paper sacks, with 25 plants across the country serving food, beverages, perishables, electronics, household goods, automotive, publishing and chemical customers. Through McKinley, the wider group also has a major U.S. paper and corrugated-packaging platform.
International Paper lists corrugated sheet facilities in Guadalajara, Reynosa, Juárez and Puebla.
Smurfit Westrock’s Mexican scale was strengthened through the former WestRock acquisition of Grupo Gondi. The acquired business included four paper mills, nine corrugated packaging plants and six high-graphic plants in Mexico.
Beyond those global names, Mexico also has a wider base of regional producers, sheet plants, high-graphic operations and independent converters. For equipment suppliers, that means Mexico is not one buyer and not one technology cycle.
Three scenarios to watch before June 2027
The biggest variable is North American trade policy.
The United States and Mexico have been holding bilateral negotiating rounds related to the first Joint Review of the USMCA. In July 2026, USTR said talks covered automobiles, steel and aluminium, agriculture, economic security, labour and electronic payment services, and both sides directed teams to continue with another round.
Scenario 1 — Continuity
If the review preserves broadly stable market access, corrugated demand should remain closely linked to manufacturing output, cross-border logistics and investment in northern and central industrial clusters. Productivity projects and new capacity can both make sense.
Scenario 2 — Faster nearshoring
If more components and assembly move closer to the U.S. market, plants near industrial clusters may need more corrugating and converting capacity — but also higher labour productivity, faster changeovers and better traceability.
Scenario 3 — Trade friction or sector slowdown
If tariffs, rules or weaker demand slow selected export industries, the strongest investments may shift from gross capacity toward flexibility, waste reduction, energy efficiency, quality control and a more diversified customer mix.
These are scenarios, not forecasts. Their purpose is to frame the data a plant director should watch before committing CAPEX.
LatamCORR is the meeting point — not the whole story
Against this market backdrop, LatamCORR will return to Mexico City on June 9–10, 2027 at Hilton Mexico City Reforma, together with LatamPaper Mexico 2027. The city also gives the event a wider regional role: organisers position Mexico City as accessible to professionals from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean region, while its strong air connections with Latin America and major international destinations make it practical for international suppliers.
The event is returning to the city where LatamCORR began. Its first edition was launched in Mexico City in 2024, when the corrugated programme joined LatamPaper for the first time. The combined format then moved to Buenos Aires in May 2026.
According to the organisers’ post-event report, Buenos Aires 2026 registered 490 participants from 30 countries, including more than 330 manufacturers and converters representing 168 plants and companies. Among the manufacturing facilities were 67 corrugated board plants and 18 integrated paper-and-corrugated operations.
LatamCORR connects corrugated board manufacturers and corrugated box converters from Latin America with international suppliers of machinery, equipment, technology, consumables and specialized services. The event uses a medium-sized Tabletop format rather than large conventional stands, with supplier spaces following the same basic format. Technical Presentations and networking are built around direct discussions with owners, CEOs, plant managers, production and maintenance managers, engineers, project teams, quality specialists and purchasing professionals.
Supplier registration for Mexico 2027 is now open. Tabletop spaces and Technical Presentations are available subject to registration and availability.
LatamCORR and LatamPaper will again run together while keeping their own industrial focus. The combined format puts corrugated board plants and corrugated box converters in the same venue as paper and board mills, tissue mills and tissue converting plants, along with suppliers serving more than one part of the fibre-based value chain.
There is a practical technical logic behind that crossover. Corrugated productivity does not begin at the converting machine: paper quality, moisture, adhesive performance, controls, maintenance, scheduling and board properties all interact. Bringing mills, corrugated plants, converters and technology suppliers together makes those conversations more useful.
The market is the real story
LatamCORR Mexico 2027 gives the industry a date and a place. Mexico gives it the reason to pay attention.
Corrugated-box exports rose about 40% in value between 2020 and 2024. More than 96% of 2024 export value went to the United States. Five states generated almost 69% of exports. U.S.–Mexico goods trade reached US$871.6 billion in 2025. Major packaging groups already operate substantial corrugated networks inside the country.
For a Mexican plant director, the question before 2027 is not whether the market sounds attractive. It is whether the next peso of CAPEX should buy more capacity, remove changeover losses, improve board quality, automate converting, strengthen transport packaging or connect the plant’s information flow.
For suppliers, the question is equally concrete: which regions, sectors and plants are forming the next real investment projects?
That is why Mexico is worth watching now — not only when the doors open in June 2027.
Event information
LatamCORR Mexico 2027
June 9–10, 2027
Hilton Mexico City Reforma
Mexico City, Mexico
Held together with LatamPaper Mexico 2027
Supplier registration is now open.
Information for suppliers: Susan Reyes — [email protected] — WhatsApp: +34 686 202 102 — LinkedIn: LatamCORR — www.latamcorr.org
Sources
WITS / UN Comtrade — HS 481910 corrugated-box trade, 2020–2024.
Data México — 2024 trade by Mexican state, origin and destination.
Bio Pappel / International Paper / Smurfit Westrock / LatamCORR — company and event data.
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