Acme’s Cohen Shares Thoughts On State Of Corrugated Industry As the corrugated industry navigates rising container- board prices and ongoing uncertainty, Board Converting News connected with Bob Cohen, President of Acme Cor- rugated Box for his perspective on some of the issues af- fecting box makers today. At the helm of a family-owned company with 108 years in the industry, Cohen also reflects on the values that have contributed to Acme’s growth over the years. Since you shared your thoughts on the containerboard price increases earlier in the year, we’ve seen additional increases and most recently, developments in a lawsuit about alleged pricing collusion among some of the inte- grateds. What was your reaction to this news?
How do you think all this will affect the independents? As you are aware I was quite concerned about the second announced $50.00/ton increase. I thought that
raising prices $100.00/ton in a four-month period was simply too much, too soon. The most recent announcements are even more troubling to me. Maybe I am a rarity, but I care about how our clients view our industry’s reputation, and more important- ly how they feel about us. Since containerboard increases must
Bob Cohen
be passed on to our box clients, it appears that raising box prices more than 25 percent (+/-) in a nine-month period is a self-destructive and self-defeating exercise. I believe that this next increase will have little merit, and if instituted will cause uncertainty and a level of chaot- ic competitive activity in the market.
Box volume, as reported by Bloomberg, is tepid at best. It has also been shown that rising box prices have the effect of tamping down demand further. It seems to me that any advances in Containerboard pricing will end up being a self-inflicted wound. As to the anti-trust action, the com- monality of announcements that offer up the same timeline, and often at the same percentage, might lead one to assume that this is signaling, a basic anti-trust activity. Just the other day Judge Mary Rowland cited this factor in her ruling, causing her to continue the antitrust litigation. May- be these historical antitrust actions are viewed by the major producers as just a “cost of doing business”! For Independents like us this rapid rise in prices will most likely impact margins as clients seek to mitigate the rising box prices. No question it increases pressure on Independents, and makes the market a little more treacherous to navigate. Is there anything about the current state of the industry that feels particularly dif- ferent to you, or do you see some familiar patterns repeating themselves? The patterns are familiar. Sorry to say this but outside of the entrepreneurial spir- it of the independent operator our industry is not populated by the best and brightest. I think there is an element of opportunism in what we are experiencing this year. It certainly has a historical precedent. May- be the runup in plastics, due to the Iranian conflict, is giving the Containerboard pro- ducers a form of “cover”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
14 September 28, 2026
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