As we close the year on 2025 and look ahead to 2026, the corrugated packaging industry stands in a familiar place: resilient, essential, and quietly evolving.
While headlines in recent years have focused on volatility — from pandemic surges to inventory corrections — corrugated boxes continue to do what they’ve always done: move goods, protect products, and keep supply chains running.
At Corrugated Replacements Inc. (CRI), we follow industry data closely — not for trends alone, but to better support the operations, plants, and people behind corrugated production. Here’s what 2025 revealed about the industry, using insights from trusted trade and market sources.
The most recent confirmed full-year benchmarks come from the Fibre Box Association (FBA).
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U.S. corrugated producers manufactured approximately 381 billion square feet of corrugated material in 2024
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This includes boxes, displays, and other corrugated packaging formats
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Production levels throughout 2025 remained historically strong, even as demand moderated
Final 2025 totals will be published in early 2026, but current indicators suggest volumes remained well within long-term norms for the industry.
Industry analysis from Packaging Dive, Bloomberg Intelligence, and the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) shows that:
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Corrugated box shipments in 2025 were projected to decline roughly 2–3% year over year
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The slowdown was driven by:
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Inventory corrections after record 2020–2022 demand
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Softer industrial output
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Higher interest rates impacting construction and manufacturing
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Even with the pullback, shipment volumes remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels
In short: fewer boxes than peak years, but still hundreds of billions of square feet produced and shipped.
According to market research from The Freedonia Group:
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U.S. corrugated and paperboard box demand exceeded $47 billion in 2024
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The market is projected to grow steadily toward the end of the decade
Corrugated packaging continues to dominate because it is:
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Cost-effective
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Strong and lightweight
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Highly customizable
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Compatible with automation
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Widely accepted as a sustainable solution
Despite new materials and technologies, no alternative has replaced corrugated at scale.
Corrugated packaging remains one of the strongest sustainability stories in industrial materials.
Data from the Fibre Box Association and AF&PA consistently shows:
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Corrugated boxes achieve one of the highest recycling rates of any packaging material
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Fiber-based materials are renewable and widely recovered
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Ongoing lightweighting and design improvements reduce material use without sacrificing performance
As regulations and customer expectations continue to evolve, corrugated remains well-positioned going into 2026.
A moderating demand environment changes priorities on the plant floor.
Throughout 2025, many producers focused on:
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Maximizing uptime
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Extending equipment life
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Improving efficiency rather than expanding capacity
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Controlling costs through maintenance and reliability
When margins tighten, equipment performance matters more than ever.
Most industry analysts expect 2026 to bring:
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Gradual stabilization in box demand
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Modest growth as inventories normalize
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Continued investment in automation, efficiency, and plant optimization
The corrugated industry isn’t disappearing — it’s recalibrating.
At Corrugated Replacements Inc., our role is to support the plants that make these numbers possible — with dependable replacement parts, responsive service, and a deep understanding of corrugated operations.
As we close out 2025 and step into 2026, one thing remains clear:
Corrugated packaging is still essential — and reliable operations will define the year ahead.
