US boxboard producers will turn up the heat in August as three price increases launching in July converge on packaging customers of bleached virgin and recycled grades. That will be followed by a new price hike attempt in September on unbleached kraft initiated by MeadWestvaco (MWV). MWV told customers it would lift coated unbleached kraft (CUK) folding grades by $50/ton effective Sept. 1. Sources as of July 19 could not confirm an announcement by main CUK competitor Graphic Packaging (GPK). The CUK increase comes after $45 of a $50 increase was achieved in March-May. That hike was led by GPK for Feb. 1 but it was pushed back a month by a later effective date set by MWV.
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