Paper firms want higher box prices

Most buyers don’t expect to pay more

By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 10/3/2008 12:51:00 PM

Shipments of manufactured goods are crashing yet integrated paperboard/box firms are trying to squeeze more money from their customers who ship end products in those boxes. Purchasingdata.com reports that only 12% of buyers polled in September plan to increase corrugated buying anytime soon. Still, Smurfit-Stone and International Paper now want a 12% box price hike, effective with shipments later this month. They and five other paperboard makers earlier announced a $60/ton price increase on linerboard and corrugated medium for early October. That increase is being fought by the independent box making industry. That meshes with the buyers’ poll: Less than half (47%) of the buyers surveyed expect to see higher prices through year’s end.