PCA to increase US containerboard $70 per ton: sources

Packaging Corp of America (PCA) is set for a March 1 price increase of $70 per ton for linerboard and $70 per ton for corrugating medium in the domestic North American market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 23.

Linerboard sellers and analyst sources confirmed the increase, citing information from PCA. One source described the increase this way: PCA “out [February 1] for [March 1] implimentation of $70 liner-medium.”

This would be the first price increase for containerboard in the domestic market in 13 months, since levels increased by $40 per ton in February 2025. That increase was also announced at $70 per ton for linerboard.

Since that increase, there has been soft demand for corrugated boxes, with US actual box shipments on track to end 2025 down by 1.5-2.0% compared with 2024 shipments. Last week, buyers and sellers described box demand as “decent,” “steady” and hardly growing.

But an overriding majority of buyers and sellers have said this month that they expected a linerboard price increase attempt for the domestic market, despite the slowish demand, due to last year’s US containerboard capacity reduction of up to four million tons. The reduction represented 9% of total US capacity.

Five companies permanently shut down machines, including International Paper (IP), which shut down a total of 1.8 million tons of capacity last year — almost half of the year’s total reduction.

IP was especially reported last week to have a firmer supply/demand condition with containerboard and boxes, sources told Fastmarkets.

The sources also said that this latest increase by PCA stems from consolidation in the segment, following two mega-mergers by IP and Smurfit Westrock in the past 18 months totaling $20 billion, as well as from the increasing cost for manufacturing overall. Some expect this weekend’s Arctic blast of snow, ice, sleet and below-zero temperatures in the US to potentially also increase manufacturing costs in the short term.

Since the pandemic began in 2020, US benchmark linerboard prices increased by $220 per ton through early 2022 before declining by $100 per ton from a supply chain destocking that lasted to the end of 2023.

In January 2024 and January 2025, PCA was the first producer out with containerboard price increases for the domestic market, as well as another increase in June 2024. The virgin benchmark grade increased by $120 per ton due to those three price increases.

PCA is a relativley small containerboard producer when it comes to the open market in the US, as it is is one of the most highly integrated companies in the North American business. Estimates put the PCA integration at about 95%, meaning that 95% of the company’s containerboard ends up in its own box plants, rather than the open market domestically. The company counts on higher linerboard prices from the open market to increase its corrugated box prices. 

Since around mid-year 2025, downward price pressure and some discounting was reported for recycled linerboard, yet not for unbleached kraft linerboard. Even so, North American open market kraft and recycled linerboard prices have remained unchanged since February 2025.

In Europe this week, a second company was claimed as being out with a price increase for recycled containerboard. Corrugated packaging producer Hamburger Containerboard was first out with a $100 increase for February 1.

To better navigate these price fluctuations and strengthen your position, download our negotiation playbook for packaging procurement. Learn more.