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
Paper & Paper Products at a glance
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 shapes this industry
Key factors
Sector lens
The industry is really a balance between only a few recurring variables
This page emphasizes the interaction between the factors rather than treating them as isolated bullets. That usually gives a truer picture of how returns are really made.
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
Paper economics depend on shifting capacity into the grades that still deserve it
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
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