PKG · 10-Q · 2026Q3 · Full report

Market Demand Trends

PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA · 2026-11-05 · Importance 25 · Surprise 32

North American industry-wide corrugated products shipments declined 1.6% both in total and per workday in the third quarter of 2026 year over year, while PCA’s total corrugated shipments rose 10.6% per day and in total. Shipments from PCA’s legacy business were down 0.5%, indicating that the increase largely reflected the acquired Greif operations. Industry containerboard production fell 1.6%, and inventories were down 6.1% year over year to approximately 2.59 million tons. North American UFS paper shipments declined 9.8% in the first nine months of 2026 as electronic transmission and document storage alternatives continued to displace traditional print and communication paper.

Key facts

• Corrugated product shipments were up 10.6% per day and in total year over year in third-quarter 2026; shipments from the legacy PCA business were down 0.5% per day and in total. source
• PCA produced approximately 1,489,000 tons of containerboard in third-quarter 2026; inventory was up 7.8% from second-quarter 2026 and down 5.8% year over year. source
• PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA faces risk from the impact of general economic conditions. source
• PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA faces risks from containerboard, corrugated products, and white paper industry conditions, including competition, product demand, product pricing, and input costs. source