Hubei Cardboard Manufacturers Raise Prices by 5% After Paper Mill Increases

Several major cardboard manufacturers in China’s Hubei province have issued notices raising cardboard prices by 5% and cancelling previous special offers, following a series of price increases by domestic paper mills.

The price adjustments were announced on August 14 by companies including Hubei Hengda Packaging, Xiaogan Yadu New Material Anti-counterfeiting Packaging, Hubei Shengyuan Paper Products, Wuhan Xiangheng Packaging, Hubei Zhongtai Intelligent Packaging and Qinshanmei Packaging New Materials (Yingcheng).

According to the notices, the increases took effect at different times on August 14. Hubei Hengda Packaging raised cardboard prices by 5% from 6 p.m. and cancelled all special offers. Xiaogan Yadu, Hubei Shengyuan and Hubei Zhongtai implemented 5% increases from 8 p.m., while Wuhan Xiangheng raised prices by 5% from 6 p.m. and cancelled previous special offers.

Qinshanmei Packaging New Materials (Yingcheng) said from 8 p.m. on August 14 it would increase system discounts by 5%. The company said the adjustment applied only to system discounts and that all previous special offers would be cancelled.

The immediate trigger for the latest round of cardboard price increases was widespread price adjustments by domestic paper mills. Since the beginning of August, major paper producers including Nine Dragons Paper, Lee & Man Paper and Shanying Paper, along with large regional paper companies, have issued a series of price increase notices.

While individual paper price increases were not high, the frequency of the adjustments increased operational pressure on downstream cardboard manufacturers, according to the source.

The Hubei cardboard market was among the first to respond with coordinated price adjustments.