Sonoco announces paperboard price increase across EMEA

Sonoco has announced a €60-per-tonne price increase for its uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) grades across the EMEA region. The new prices will apply to shipments made on or after September 15, 2026, as the company responds to continued inflationary pressure and rising costs across its operations and supply chain.

The increase affects Sonoco's European operations, which include 19 tubes and cores plants and five paperboard mills across the region. The company supplies recycled paperboard for a range of industrial and consumer packaging applications.

Rising costs drive the price adjustment

Sonoco attributed the price increase to a combination of geopolitical constraints, inflation and higher operating costs. The company also expects energy and fuel prices to continue putting pressure on manufacturing and transportation expenses.

Karsten Kemmerling, Sonoco's Division Vice President for Sales and Marketing in Industrial Paper Packaging EMEA, said the company is unable to absorb the additional costs and will therefore pass them on to customers.

Recycled paperboard remains exposed to market pressures

Uncoated recycled paperboard is widely used in packaging applications including tubes, cores, partitions and other industrial paper products. Although the material is produced using recovered fiber, its manufacturing remains dependent on energy, transportation and the availability and cost of recovered paper.

Changes in these inputs can therefore have a direct impact on paperboard producers and, subsequently, packaging converters and their customers. The latest announcement highlights how recycled packaging materials remain exposed to wider economic and energy-market conditions.

Converters could face higher packaging costs

The price increase is expected to affect packaging converters and other customers purchasing URB from Sonoco across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Companies may need to absorb the additional cost or pass it further along the supply chain through higher prices for finished packaging products.

The wider market response will depend on demand, mill utilisation and the evolution of energy and raw material costs. If other paperboard manufacturers announce similar increases, the move could indicate broader upward pressure across the European recycled paperboard market.

Paper packaging faces a cost-versus-sustainability challenge

The announcement comes as demand for paper-based packaging continues to grow, driven partly by recyclability targets and efforts to reduce reliance on fossil-based materials. However, greater demand does not shield producers from increases in energy, logistics and raw material costs.

For packaging manufacturers and converters, this creates a continuing challenge: maintaining competitive prices while responding to growing demand for recycled and fiber-based materials.

Market developments will be closely watched

Sonoco's €60-per-tonne increase will take effect on September 15, making the response of other paperboard producers an important indicator for the EMEA market. Further price increases could put additional pressure on converters, while stable or falling input costs could limit the extent to which the latest adjustment spreads across the sector.

For now, the announcement highlights the continued volatility of the paper packaging market and the sensitivity of recycled paperboard prices to energy, transportation and broader economic conditions.