A surge in cardboard demand is causing a supply squeeze for box makers amid the online-shopping boom

A surge in cardboard demand is causing a supply squeeze for box makers amid the online-shopping boom

International Paper makes one in every three boxes in the US, and it — along with the rest of the industry — is dealing with supply squeezes amid larger concern that manufactures could soon face a cardboard shortage. Thomas Ryan, the director of corporate communications at International Paper, said that the reason was multifaceted. "As COVID restrictions began to loosen, the economy started to pick up steam," he told Insider. "Then, the winter storms hit, and inputs began to get tight – for us, fiber, recovered fiber, petroleum derivatives such as chemicals for adhesives. Then, add a tight labor market to the mix." During an in April, the CEO of International Paper, Mark Sutton, responded to an analyst question about demand by saying that inventory of containerboard and corrugated cardboard is "lower than we'd like it to be." And , Sutton said: "There [are] not cardboard shortages, but the supply chain is very stretched right now." The spike in e-commerce during the pandemic, when those Americans staying at home increasingly opted to shop online, resulted in unprecedented demand for corrugated cardboard. At the end of March, The Wall Street Journal reported that the price of containerboard is rising and that