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Raw materials & energyMarkets & Customers 1 Oct 2026

Six Chinese producers lift white cardboard prices by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t) from 1 October

Six Chinese paperboard producers - Nine Dragons Paper, APP China, Jiangsu Asia Symbol, Zhangzhou Lian Sheng, Bohui Paper and the Wanguo Sun white cardboard business - have issued price-increase letters raising white cardboard by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t). Most increases take effect on 1 October 2026, with the Wanguo Sun brands moving first on 26 September. The letters follow earlier rounds of increases in corrugating medium and containerboard.

Why this mattersA uniform USD 30/t rise across most of China's white cardboard capacity lifts input costs for folding carton and foodservice converters and signals tighter board supply.

  • Nine Dragons Paper raises all white cardboard grades, including coated and food-grade board, by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t) from 1 October 2026.
  • APP China raises white cardboard prices by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t), tax included, from 1 October 2026 on top of September levels.
  • Jiangsu Asia Symbol raises its cardboard and food-grade board brands by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t), tax included, from 1 October 2026.
  • Bohui Paper raises prices by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t), tax included, from 1 October 2026.
  • Zhangzhou Lian Sheng Pulp & Paper raises its Lanye coated white cardboard by USD 30/t (CNY 200/t) from 1 October 2026.
  • Wanguo Sun white, coated and food-grade cardboard grades rise USD 30/t (CNY 200/t) from 26 September 2026.
  • Zhangzhou Lian Sheng cited frequent market fluctuations and sustained high production costs as reasons for the increase
  • China's main pulp futures contract (2611) closed at RMB 4,828/tonne on 28 September 2026, down RMB 76/tonne from the prior session
  • Mid-September average price for 250g-400g sheet white cardboard had fallen to CNY 3,849/tonne (USD 574/tonne), roll products to CNY 3,410/tonne (USD 509/tonne), below production cost for non-integrated mills
  • Nine Dragons Paper also raised kraftliner prices by CNY 50/tonne (USD 7.5/tonne) at its Dongguan, Tianjin, Shenyang and Beihai mills after the holiday
  • China's paper and paper products industry posted CNY 922.97bn (USD 137.67bn) revenue and CNY 24.70bn (USD 3.68bn) profit in the first eight months of 2026, up 5.0% and 23.6% year on year
  • Mid-September average price for 250-400g sheet white cardboard had fallen to CNY 3849/tonne (about USD 574), roll stock to CNY 3410/tonne (about USD 509)
  • Producers cite rising coal, wood-chip and logistics costs pushing market prices below production cost
  • Analyst Kong Xiangfen of Sublime China Info attributes the slump to overcapacity against weak demand and expects only a tentative CNY 50/tonne rebound after the National Day holiday
  • Industry theoretical margins on white cardboard are negative; only pulp-and-paper integrated producers remain profitable
  • Mid-September average white cardboard prices stood at RMB 3,849 (USD 541) per tonne for sheet stock and RMB 3,410 (USD 479) per tonne for reel stock, levels producers say leave the sector loss-making except for forest-pulp-paper integrated players
  • China's paper and paper products sector revenue rose 5 percent to RMB 922.9bn (USD 129.7bn) in the first eight months of 2026, with profit up 23.6 percent to RMB 24.7bn (USD 3.47bn), per National Bureau of Statistics data
  • Zhangzhou Lian Sheng's integrated forestry-pulp-paper project, a total investment of RMB 22bn (USD 3.09bn), has its first phase fully operational with planned capacity of 3.9m tonnes
  • Lian Sheng cut pulp raw material costs by 15 percent by substituting mixed wood chips for eucalyptus, while raising paper strength by 8 percent
  • Nine Dragons Paper added a further USD 7 per tonne increase on kraft linerboard after its initial white cardboard rise
  • Containerboard and white cardboard prices fell more than 3 percent month-on-month in the week of 29 September to 5 October despite the announced increases
  • Market participants expect mills to achieve only around USD 7 per tonne of the full USD 30 per tonne announced rise
  • Sales of gift boxes priced above CNY 1000 fell about 76 percent year on year over the holiday period, with liquor sell-through down about 10 percent
Sinar Mas Group Sun Paper Nine Dragons Paper Zhangzhou Lian Sheng Pulp & Paper Royal Golden Eagle (APRIL) Bohui Paper Lee & Man Paper mentioned Liansheng Pulp & Paper
Sources crainternational.com.cn ZH sunsirs.com DE news.10jqka.com.cn ZH finance.sina.com.cn ZH guandian.hk ZH tmtpost.com ZH 9fzt.com ZH news.qq.com ZH syuan.com ZH 52hrtt.com ZH whxinxx.com ZH
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Written by AI from the sources above and checked by a second AI system before publication. No human wrote or edited this story. How it is made.

Updates

  • 2026-09-24 · Edited before publication: Two problems. First, style: CNY amounts must be cited in USD with the original in brackets (USD 30/t at 6.707). Second, grounding: the source does not say Bohui or Wanguo are Sun Paper units, and Bohui's ownership is not stated anywhere in the excerpt; producers are now named as the source names them. Company tagging (Sinar Mas Group, Sun Paper as subjects) should also b
  • 2026-09-30 · Update: Zhangzhou Lian Sheng confirms its RMB 200/tonne (USD 28/tonne) increase on Blue Leaf coated white board takes effect 1 October 2026, citing market volatility and high production costs.
  • 2026-10-01 · Further coverage added: news.10jqka.com.cn
  • 2026-10-05 · Update: Producers including APP China say the CNY 200/tonne rise reflects costs now exceeding market prices, with Nine Dragons Paper also lifting kraftliner prices by CNY 50/tonne (USD 7.5/tonne).
  • 2026-10-06 · Update: Producers including Sinar Mas's APP China unit say the increase reverses a cost-price inversion, after mid-September prices fell to CNY 3849/tonne for sheet stock and CNY 3410/tonne for roll stock.
  • 2026-10-07 · Update: Zhangzhou Lian Sheng Pulp & Paper confirmed its matching RMB 200 (USD 28) per tonne rise, as industry data showed the sector turning loss-making outside integrated pulp-paper producers.
  • 2026-10-08 · Update: Nine Dragons Paper has added a further USD 7 per tonne rise on kraft linerboard, but mills are expected to achieve only about USD 7 per tonne of the announced USD 30 per tonne white cardboard increase amid a sharp holiday-period slump in gift-box and liquor-gift demand.