Linerboard Price Index
The Paperboard Producer Price Index (WPU0914) serves as the best publicly available proxy for linerboard pricing trends. Linerboard is the flat facing material that forms the outer and inner walls of every corrugated box.
Linerboard (Paperboard PPI)
354.8
Paperboard PPI — Historical Trend
FRED series WPU0914. Base period: June 1982 = 100. This long-running index captures pricing trends across the paperboard category, which includes both linerboard and other paperboard grades.
Last 12 Months
| Month | Value (Index (Jun 1982 = 100)) | Change (MoM) |
|---|---|---|
| February 2026Latest | 354.8 | -0.53% |
| January 2026 | 356.7 | +0.08% |
| December 2025 | 356.4 | +0.03% |
| November 2025 | 356.3 | -0.22% |
| October 2025 | 357.1 | +0.73% |
| September 2025 | 354.5 | -0.23% |
| August 2025 | 355.3 | -0.11% |
| July 2025 | 355.7 | -0.89% |
| June 2025 | 358.9 | +1.41% |
| May 2025 | 353.9 | +0.34% |
| April 2025 | 352.7 | +1.15% |
| March 2025 | 348.7 | +0.63% |
What Is Linerboard?
Linerboard is the flat paperboard sheet that forms the smooth outer and inner surfaces of corrugated board. It is manufactured in two primary varieties: kraft linerboard, made predominantly from virgin wood fiber, and recycled linerboard (also called test liner in some markets), made largely from recovered fiber, principally old corrugated containers (OCC).
In a standard single-wall corrugated box, linerboard accounts for approximately two-thirds of the total board weight. This means that linerboard pricing has a disproportionately large impact on finished box costs compared to corrugating medium.
Kraft Linerboard vs. Recycled Linerboard
Kraft linerboard is the premium grade, prized for its superior strength, printability, and moisture resistance. The benchmark grade is 42-pound kraft liner, which typically commands a price premium of $80 to $120 per ton over recycled liner. This premium fluctuates based on OCC pricing — when recovered fiber is cheap, recycled liner becomes more competitive, narrowing the spread.
Recycled linerboard has gained market share steadily over the past two decades as manufacturing technology has improved. Modern recycled mills can produce liner that meets the performance requirements for many shipping applications, particularly when combined with a kraft outer liner in multi-wall constructions.
Pricing Dynamics
Linerboard is typically sold under annual contracts with published price adjustment mechanisms. The major integrated producers announce price increases (or occasionally decreases) through published letters to customers. These announcements set the direction for the market, though actual realized prices depend on contract terms, volume, and competitive dynamics.
Key factors driving linerboard prices include: pulpwood and fiber costs, energy costs (natural gas is a significant input for drying), operating rates (the industry targets above 95% to support pricing), and demand trends from the e-commerce and consumer goods sectors that drive corrugated box consumption.
Why Use the Paperboard PPI as a Proxy?
There is no publicly available PPI series that tracks linerboard exclusively. The Paperboard index (WPU0914) is the closest proxy because linerboard represents the largest single category within the broader paperboard classification. While the index also includes other paperboard grades (such as folding carton board and setup box board), linerboard production volumes are large enough to heavily influence the overall index direction.