PCA Announces Containerboard Price Increase

Packaging Corporation of America sent letters to customers announcing a $70 per ton price increase for containerboard, effective March 1, according to a Friday memo from Green Markets, a Bloomberg company.​

This marks the first major containerboard producer to announce a price rise in 2026, following a pause on such announcements since late 2024. Analysts anticipated increases after 2025 challenges. Cascades had announced a $50 per ton rise in December for corrugating medium only.​

The containerboard sector faced difficulties in 2025, with demand declines leading to closures that cut North American production capacity by about 10%. The final closure occurs next month, with operating rates now in the low 90s and projected to reach mid-90s this year.​

Analysts like Michael Roxland of Truist Securities expected an early 2026 announcement. Green Markets noted future justifications will emphasize structural costs, including a nearly 50% rise in hourly wages for corrugated box plant workers over five years, plus energy, insurance, wage inflation and equipment expenses. Price hikes aim to stem box pricing erosion amid weak demand.​

Cascades' smaller market share limits its impact without larger producers joining. North American majors pursued no 2025 increases beyond early-year ones from late 2024 announcements, after two 2024 hikes following two years without.​

A containerboard price-fixing lawsuit filed by Artuso Pastry Foods Corp. in July 2025 against producers including Cascades, Georgia-Pacific, Greif, International Paper, PCA and Pratt Industries continues. Graphic Packaging International and Smurfit Westrock were dismissed; Smurfit Kappa and WestRock remain as pre-merger entities.