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In simple terms
Paper & Paper Products is part of Basic Materials. Start with the points below: they show what can make these companies' results stronger or weaker. You do not need to read every chart.
More detail
Paper and paper products is no longer just a secular-decline story. The industry has become a mix problem: packaging and tissue remain healthier, while printing and writing continues to shrink. The winners are operators that can convert capacity toward better categories, manage fiber and energy cost, and keep operating rates high enough to justify heavy fixed assets.
Real Numbers
Operating rate
US paper and paperboard operating rate in 2024.
US capacity
US paper and paperboard capacity in 2024.
2024 production growth
US paper and paperboard production growth in 2024.
Containerboard rate
AF&PA says 2025 containerboard operating rates ended the year above 91%.
What can change the picture
Sector lens
Read these points together, not as a prediction. They help explain why results can improve or worsen.
Containerboard, tissue, packaging, and printing grades carry very different long-term demand trajectories.
The ability to convert machines into better end markets can matter more than adding greenfield capacity.
Recovered fiber, virgin pulp, natural gas, and freight all shape margin in a heavy fixed-cost business.
Grade migration
This is not one monolithic business anymore. The quality of the story depends on grade mix, machine conversion, and operating-rate discipline.
US paper and paperboard operating rate in 2024.
US paper and paperboard capacity in 2024.
US paper and paperboard production growth in 2024.
AF&PA says 2025 containerboard operating rates ended the year above 91%.
Explore the sector
13 related industries sit alongside this one in Basic Materials.