Producers of corrugated board boost prices, adding to supply-chain woes as economy reopens
March 31, 2021
It wasn’t just you. Americans consumed more corrugated cardboard boxes than ever last year.
Stay-at-home orders and stimulus checks fueled a banner year for e-commerce and a run on shipping boxes.
U.S. producers in 2020 churned out nearly 407 billion square feet of corrugated product, from dot.com delivery boxes to watermelon crates, according to the Fibre Box Association. The year-over-year rise was 3.4%, equivalent to about 477 square miles of additional corrugated board. Enough to cover New York City and then some.