Cardboard Giants Accused of Price-Fixing Scheme

Case Overview: A class action lawsuit claims major cardboard manufacturers and other companies conspired to fix prices on containerboard sheets, linerboard sheets, and finished packaging products.

Consumers Affected: U.S. businesses and entities that purchased containerboard products directly from the defendants since November 2020.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Some of the biggest names in the cardboard industry work together to artificially raise prices on everything from pizza boxes to moving cartons, a new and explosive lawsuit alleges. 

The class action claims companies including International Paper, Packaging Corporation of America, Smurfit Westrock, Georgia-Pacific, Cascades, Pratt Industries, and others engaged in a years-long conspiracy to inflate costs for containerboard sheets, linerboard sheets, and finished packaging products.

The lawsuit says the companies violated federal antitrust laws by fixing prices, coordinating supply cuts, and adopting a “value over volume” strategy that boosted profits while reducing output. 

The claim alleges the scheme drove up the cost of these essential packaging materials by more than 30% between late 2020 and today.

Lawsuit Details Alleged Conspiracy to Inflate Prices

Artuso Pastry Foods Corp., which filed the proposed class action lawsuit, is a bakery based in Mount Vernon, New York, and its owner claims he bought containerboard products directly from WestRock during the alleged conspiracy. The company claims it paid inflated prices as a result of coordinated price hikes that had no legitimate market justification.

According to the complaint, manufacturers rolled out multiple identical or near-identical price increases, often on the same day and for the same amounts. Artuso argues that the market’s high concentration, barriers to entry, and inelastic demand made it easy for the companies to move in lockstep without fear of losing customers.

Businesses Say They Paid More for Essential Packaging Materials

Containerboard, made from new or recycled wood pulp, is the backbone of most packaging in the U.S., from corrugated shipping boxes to retail product displays. Together, the defendants control nearly three-quarters of the American market.

The lawsuit outlines at least seven rounds of synchronized price hikes between November 2020 and January 2025, with each company setting matching or nearly matching increases and identical effective dates. The complaint also points to a pattern of deliberate mill closures, which reduced overall supply and, according to plaintiffs, kept prices artificially high.

According to the lawsuit, there were no meaningful increases in production costs or demand to justify these hikes, and that the actions run counter to how companies would normally compete in a commodity market.

Antitrust Cases Emerge in Multiple Industries

The cardboard industry isn’t the only one under fire for alleged price-fixing. The archery industry is facing its own class action accusing leading manufacturers and retailers of coordinating to eliminate price competition. 

In veterinary medicine, hospitals, universities, and trade groups are accused of conspiring to suppress wages for early-career vets. Meanwhile, electronics makers have been hit with claims of rigging cathode-ray tube prices, and major potato processors allegedly fixed prices on frozen potato products. 

In this lawsuit, Artuso Pastry is seeking to represent all U.S. businesses and entities that purchased containerboard products directly from the defendants since November 2020. The lawsuit asks for damages, legal fees, and a court order to stop the alleged collusion, essentially aiming to restore fair competition and roll back what it says are artificially inflated prices.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Artuso Pastry Foods Corp v. Packaging Corporation Of America, et al.
• Case Number: 1:25-cv-08856 
• Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Plaintiffs' Attorneys

• Gary D. McCallister (McCallister Law Group, LLC)
• Eric I. Unrein (Cavanaugh, Biggs & Lemon, PA)
• Vincent Briganti, Margaret MacLean, Raymond Girnys, Nicole A. Veno, Katherine Boyd, and Xin Huang (Lowey Dannenberg, P.C.)
• Christopher M. Burke and Yifan (Kate) Lv (Burke LLP)

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