How paper packaging buyers are managing procurement risk

Private Papers: candid conversations with packaging procurement professionals

Sourcing paper packaging material is becoming more and more complicated for consumer goods companies, especially in this historic moment when unprecedented gas prices are posing serious problems for – and in some cases even existential threats to – paper mills and packaging production sites.

Packaging buyers have had to deal with high and volatile prices for the past couple of years, stemming from skyrocketing production costs, disruptions in the supply chain and high transport costs. As a consequence, packaging buyers are struggling to prepare their budgets and forecasts and sometimes have to adapt their packaging needs by postponing production or by temporarily switching to other materials. Obviously, inflation in the packaging segment also contributes to higher prices for consumers, which, when tallied up with rising costs across the board, ultimately lowers demand and erodes margins.

In Europe in particular, skyrocketing gas and energy prices are forcing some paper mills to temporarily halt production, and this will further tighten the market, increase lead times and possibly bring further price increases.

In this special report, “How paper packaging buyers are managing procurement risk”, we will look at how big multi-national FMCG companies across Europe and North America are being affected by and responding to this complex set of procurement risks. To do so, we spoke to a number of senior procurement managers across the profession, representing different sectors, to understand how they are dealing with the many challenges the market has thrown at them in the past couple of years.

What’s inside this special report?

  • Candid conversations with senior procurement professionals working for some of the world’s biggest buyers of paper packaging
  • Five of the most effective procurement risk mitigation strategies, according to our interviewees
  • A look at how packaging buyers prepare for win/win price negotiations
  • And much more

Click here to get your copy

Case Study

Learn how to monitor packaging prices using cost and price indices and understand the underlying cost drivers, from material cost to labor, energy and more. Examples include cartonboard, liquid container and paper bag.

What to read next
This year’s excellently-attended European Forest Products conference in Lisbon over March 3 – 5 rolled out in an environment of increasing regional regulation, erratic international tariff announcements from the US altering conditions in real time and the changing shape of the market through mergers and acquisitions. Smurfit Westrock shut out the CEO awards, with Tony […]
Prices for recycled fiber-based containerboard in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had some increases with few decreases in February and as a result Fastmarkets’ PIX indices for locally-produced testliner and fluting rose slightly on Tuesday March 4. While most of the prices reported to Fastmarkets were unchanged, some increases in Saudi Arabia and the United […]
To navigate what can be a volatile market across paper packaging and wood products, gaining market-reflective and unbiased pricing information is crucial to safeguarding competition and fairness. Buyers need a neutral benchmark to enable the fairest and most accurate price for any given time. Some suppliers utilise their own cost-plus models, internal indices or pricing formulae. […]
We expect prices for paper products in Latin America to increase in 2025, tracking higher costs and more robust demand than in 2024. The demand recovery in 2024 created opportunities to consume any remaining unsold inventories from the 2022-23 period, and new orders were placed throughout the year as demand increased. From a cost perspective, […]
US linerboard prices narrowly increased by $30-40 per short ton in February, according to Fastmarkets’ monthly survey. Levels were reported up by $40 per ton for brown virgin and recycled linerboard, and up by $30 per ton for white top linerboard. Major producers sought increases of $60 per ton and $70 per ton for linerboard, […]
Prices for recycled fiber-based containerboard (RCCM) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region experienced minor changes in January, with locally produced testliner and fluting stable or slightly lower compared with December, against the expectations of Fastmarkets contacts. Fastmarkets’ PIX Testliner GCC index edged down by $2.88 per tonne, or 0.60%, to close at $473.92 per […]