Four Companies Receive Subpoenas in U.S. Investigation Into Corrugated Board Prices
Key Facts
The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding a criminal investigation into the pricing and sale of corrugated board after four companies confirmed receiving grand jury subpoenas. The investigation is centered in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, according to Packaging Dive. The companies that confirmed receiving subpoenas are Smurfit Westrock, International Paper, Packaging Corporation of America and Cascades. The investigation concerns corrugated board and related products, materials used to make corrugated packaging. Smurfit Westrock said it is cooperating fully, while International Paper said it is cooperating with the investigation. The investigation opens a parallel criminal track alongside an existing civil lawsuit, but the start of a grand jury investigation does not by itself mean formal charges have been filed against the companies.
Smurfit Westrock said in a filing that the Justice Department issued its subpoena on September 22, 2026, and that it believes its practices comply with U.S. antitrust laws. The company added that it is "cooperating fully" with authorities. International Paper said the subpoena was issued on September 24 and that it is cooperating with the investigation, according to its filing. Packaging Corporation of America confirmed in its quarterly filing that it received a subpoena from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division in September. Cascades also said it received a subpoena on September 25 concerning corrugated board products sold in the United States, and announced that it is cooperating with the investigation. These filings confirm the industry's participation in the investigation, but do not in themselves establish that the companies violated the law.
In parallel, courts are considering a class-action civil lawsuit filed in July 2025 that accuses several major corrugated board producers of price fixing and harming customers. The companies named in the lawsuit include Cascades, Georgia-Pacific, Pratt Industries and other producers, according to Packaging Dive. The lawsuit alleges that the price fixing has continued since 2020. In September 2026, a judge rejected defendants' motions to dismiss the case, allowing the claims to proceed. This track remains civil and separate from the criminal investigation led by the Justice Department. Available information does not establish that the civil lawsuit prompted the investigation, and the denial of a motion to dismiss does not resolve the validity of the allegations.
The investigations come amid signs that some measures of industry activity weakened in the third quarter of 2026. Packaging Corporation of America disclosed that North American shipments of corrugated products fell 1.6% and production of corrugated board declined 1.6% compared with the third quarter of 2025. Industry inventories stood at 2.59 million tons at the end of the third quarter, down 6.1% year over year. Export shipments also fell 29.4% compared with the same period a year earlier. On pricing, company data showed a net increase of $20 per ton in the first quarter, followed by a further increase of $80 in the second quarter. It said linerboard prices rose $70 per ton in September, while the price of corrugating medium increased $100 per ton.
Smurfit Westrock's filings indicate that passing higher input costs through to the prices it realizes typically takes between three and six months. The company said an adverse outcome in the investigation could materially affect its financial condition, operating results or cash flows, but it is currently unable to estimate the final outcome or the range of potential losses. On business activity, Packaging Corporation of America forecast strong demand for corrugated products and seasonal improvement in the fourth quarter. It also expected prices to improve as previous increases take effect, while pointing to higher mill maintenance expenses and freight costs. These forecasts remain part of the company's business disclosures, while the criminal investigation and civil lawsuit continue on separate legal tracks. The filings cited here provided no information on when the next legal step in the investigation is expected.