Cardboard Price Trend and Forecast 2026-2027

Market Overview

Europe wasn't cheap this quarter. Cardboard prices there jumped 8.2% in Q2 2026, from USD 970/MT to USD 1,050/MT, right after producers pushed through an announced kraftliner price increase across the region. Globally the average moved the same direction, just less sharply: USD 718/MT in Q1 2026 up to USD 766/MT in Q2, a 6.8% gain. That snapped a long run of flat-to-declining quarters. Why now? North American mill backlogs kept stretching out, and rising costs finally forced through the first fully recognised linerboard price increase in years. For the second half of 2026, expect a global average somewhere around USD 720-820/MT. Tight mill order books and climbing recovered-fibre costs should keep providing support, even with underlying box demand growth staying fairly modest.

Cardboard, or containerboard if you want to be precise about it, is the kraft or recycled paperboard that turns into corrugated shipping boxes and cartons. There are basically two ways to make it. Virgin softwood kraft pulp yields kraftliner, the strongest and priciest option. Recovered fibre, things like old corrugated containers, yields recycled linerboard and corrugating medium at a lower cost base instead. Food and beverage packaging pulls in the largest share of demand and tends to be the steadiest segment. E-commerce and shipping packaging is growing faster than anything else. Industrial and consumer-goods packaging rounds things out. What moves the price? Recovered-fibre and virgin pulp costs mostly, plus energy prices, whatever capacity decisions mills are making that quarter, and how much e-commerce is actually shipping.

Cardboard Price Forecast for 2026

Tight, even after 2025's historic wave of capacity closures. Mill order backlogs still stretched to several weeks through the first half of this year, and producers chose to rebuild inventory rather than chase extra volume. Recovered-fibre costs are climbing too, right alongside energy and freight, and that's exactly what's letting the recently announced price increases actually stick.

A further supply outage, or backlogs stretching out even longer than expected, would push prices above this forecast pretty quickly. Go the other way and a renewed slowdown in box demand, or recovered-fibre costs falling faster than expected, could just as easily drag prices back down.

For the Quarter Ending June 2026

Cardboard Prices Q2 2026:

• United States: USD 1,005/MT
• Europe: USD 1,050/MT
• China: USD 590/MT
• India: USD 420/MT

Cardboard Prices in the United States

USD 1,005/MT, up 7.9% from USD 931/MT the quarter before. This was the first fully recognised price increase in several years, and it happened because mill order backlogs stretched past five weeks while recovered-fibre costs kept climbing. After two years of flat-to-declining prices, producers finally had the room to make it stick.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q2 2026 in the United States?

Backlogs past five weeks meant less spot material to go around. Recovered-fibre costs climbed on top of broader input-cost inflation. Producers took the opening, and the market landed at USD 1,005/MT.

Cardboard Prices in Europe

Europe held onto the top spot, prices up 8.2% to USD 1,050/MT from USD 970/MT in Q1. A producer-announced kraftliner increase kicked in early in the quarter, and persistent pressure from energy and fibre costs kept reinforcing it right to the end.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q2 2026 in Europe?

The kraftliner increase took hold almost immediately across the region, and energy and fibre costs stayed elevated the whole time, which kept the production floor high. Settled at USD 1,050/MT by quarter's end.

Cardboard Prices in China

Still the cheapest market by a clear margin, though prices did edge up 3.5% to USD 590/MT from USD 570/MT in Q1. Domestic packaging demand recovered a little, and recovered-fibre costs firmed just enough to lift the market off its 2025 lows.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q2 2026 in China?

Modest recovery in domestic demand, slightly firmer recovered-fibre costs. That's really the whole story. Large recycled capacity kept China affordable regardless.

Cardboard Prices in India

Indian prices climbed to USD 420/MT, up 5.0% from USD 400/MT in Q1, largely on the back of rising Middle East-linked freight surcharges on imported recovered fibre. Steady growth in packaging demand didn't help matters either, at least from a buyer's perspective.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q2 2026 in India?

Freight surcharges rose as Middle East tension continued, and packaging demand kept growing at a steady clip on top of it. Both pushed the market to USD 420/MT together.

For the Quarter Ending March 2026

Cardboard Prices Q1 2026:

• United States: USD 931/MT
• Europe: USD 970/MT
• China: USD 570/MT
• India: USD 400/MT

Cardboard Prices in the United States

USD 931/MT, basically flat against Q4 2025. There was a dip early in the quarter, a winter storm plus soft demand, but a producer price increase later on offset it almost exactly. Net result: a quarter that went nowhere on paper despite plenty happening underneath.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q1 2026 in the United States?

The storm and soft demand pushed things down for a few weeks. The later price increase reversed nearly all of it. Landed near USD 931/MT either way.

Cardboard Prices in Europe

Held at USD 970/MT in Q1 2026, unchanged from Q4 2025, keeping intact the gain from the prior year's kraftliner increase. Energy and fibre cost pressure stayed persistent enough to keep the floor firm heading into the April increase.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q1 2026 in Europe?

Elevated energy and fibre costs, steady demand, not much drama. The market simply held its ground ahead of the next increase.

Cardboard Prices in China

Stayed at USD 570/MT in Q1 2026, unchanged from Q4 2025. Recycled-fibre supply remained ample and domestic demand only grew moderately, so the market held near its 2025 lows without much movement either way.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q1 2026 in China?

Ample supply, modest demand growth. A quiet quarter that held near USD 570/MT.

Cardboard Prices in India

Ticked up to USD 400/MT in Q1 2026, about 2.6% above Q4 2025. Packaging demand kept growing steadily, and early Middle East-linked freight surcharges started showing up in the numbers, setting the stage for the sharper increase that followed in Q2.

Why did the price of Cardboard change in Q1 2026 in India?

Steady demand growth, plus the first signs of freight surcharges creeping in. That combination pushed the market to USD 400/MT.

Quarterly Cardboard Price Trends

Cardboard drifted lower through most of 2025. A historic round of capacity closures still couldn't fully offset soft box demand, and then Q2 2026 rolled around and the market rallied hard on tightening mill backlogs. The average eased from USD 722/MT in Q2 2025 to USD 717/MT in Q3, then USD 715/MT in Q4, held near USD 718/MT in Q1 2026, and finally jumped to USD 766/MT in Q2. Net gain across the window: about 6.1%. Recovered-fibre cost swings, capacity rationalisation, and e-commerce shipping demand explain most of it.

What was Cardboard Price in 2025?

Nearly flat, on the surface. Cardboard's global average opened near USD 715/MT in Q1 2025 and closed the year at about the same level. But that number hides very different regional stories underneath: producer price increases in Europe and steady import-driven gains in India roughly cancelled out a historic wave of North American capacity closures and persistent softness in Chinese recycled-fibre pricing. Swings in recovered-fibre costs, e-commerce shipping demand, and a double-digit cut to North American mill capacity shaped the year, setting up the tighter conditions and sharper gains that showed up in the first half of 2026.

Cardboard Prices in the United States in 2025

US prices eased from about USD 948/MT in Q1 2025 to USD 931/MT by Q4, down roughly 1.8%. A historic round of mill capacity closures still wasn't enough to fully offset soft box demand, so the market stayed under pressure most of the year.

Cardboard Prices in Europe in 2025

European prices rose from about USD 930/MT in Q1 2025 to USD 970/MT by Q4, up about 4.3%, on a producer-announced kraftliner increase early in the year backed by persistent energy and fibre cost pressure.

Cardboard Prices in China in 2025

Chinese prices fell from about USD 620/MT in Q1 2025 to USD 570/MT by Q4, down roughly 8.1%. Oversupplied recycled-fibre capacity and soft domestic demand kept pulling the market lower all year.

Cardboard Prices in India in 2025

Indian prices climbed from about USD 360/MT in Q1 2025 to USD 390/MT by Q4, up around 8.3%, as steady demand growth and rising freight costs on imported recovered fibre kept pushing the market higher.

How We Can Help

Expert Market Research: Your Source for Real-Time Cardboard Price Intelligence

Cardboard pricing looks simple from the outside, a number that goes up or down. It isn't. Expert Market Research follows every major producing and consuming region and tracks the actual mechanics behind the number: recovered-fibre and virgin pulp economics, mill capacity and backlog cycles, and shifts in e-commerce and food-packaging demand. Forecasts pull together feedstock economics, trade flow patterns, capacity utilisation, and geopolitical risk, so the reasoning behind a price move is just as clear as the move itself. Contact Expert Market Research today for cardboard pricing data, bespoke market analysis, and strategic procurement advisory.