DOJ Grand Jury Subpoenas Hit Smurfit Westrock, IP and PCA Over Cardboard Pricing

Smurfit Westrock, International Paper and Packaging Corporation of America have all received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department, kicking off a potential criminal price-fixing investigation into containerboard — the raw material behind virtually every corrugated box moving through US supply chains.

The three producers disclosed the subpoenas in separate regulatory filings this week. The grand jury investigation runs out of Chicago federal court. Smurfit Westrock's filing said the probe targets the pricing and sale of containerboard and related products.

All three companies said they are cooperating fully. None of them immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Justice Department has not formally accused any of the companies, or their employees, of a crime. And investigations don't always end in charges. But a grand jury subpoena is a serious step — it signals prosecutors have persuaded a federal judge there's enough evidence to compel documents and testimony under oath.

Where did this come from?

The criminal probe didn't appear from thin air. A class-action lawsuit filed last year accused containerboard makers of conspiring to fix prices starting in 2020. The defendants named in that case read like the industry's entire top tier: Smurfit Westrock, International Paper, PCA, Koch Industries' Georgia-Pacific, Greif Inc., Pratt Industries and Canada's Cascades Inc.

Georgia-Pacific, Pratt, Greif and Cascades didn't respond when asked whether prosecutors have contacted them too. That question now hangs over the whole sector.

Smurfit Westrock, International Paper and Pratt rank Nos. 4, 6 and 9 respectively on the Transport Topics sector list of top paper/office products carriers — meaning the companies under scrutiny are also significant freight players in their own right.

Why consolidation raises antitrust eyebrows

The containerboard industry has grown steadily more concentrated over recent decades, and the two most recent deals tightened it further. Smurfit Westrock was formed in 2024 by merging Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa with Atlanta-based WestRock. PCA bought Greif's containerboard business last year for $1.8 billion.

Fewer mills, fewer sellers, bigger market shares. That's exactly the structure antitrust enforcers look at when prices keep climbing.

And climb they have. Major producers raised prices several times this year, trying to offset weak volumes. The box industry has been struggling as inflationary pressure and high freight costs weigh on demand for its products. Fastmarkets RISI's index for North American containerboard prices rose in September, reflecting those increases — and that benchmark helps dictate pricing for some contracts.

What does this change for shippers?

For now, nothing immediately. Prices on the Fastmarkets RISI benchmark are still rising, and the investigation will take months, possibly years, before any charges materialize — if they ever do.

But the commercial stakes are real. If prosecutors build a case, box buyers — retailers, e-commerce shippers, food and consumer goods companies — could see a wave of damages claims piggyback on the existing class action. If the probe fizzles, producers keep their pricing power intact and consolidation continues.

The Independent Packaging Association, which represents converters that don't own mills and buy containerboard to turn into corrugated boxes and packaging, has already taken a side. It said earlier this year that the price "increases are reflective of a small group of producers having market dominance."

That's the argument the DOJ will now test under criminal standards — a far higher bar than a civil class action.

What happens next

Watch three things: whether Georgia-Pacific, Pratt, Greif and Cascades disclose their own subpoenas in coming filings; whether the grand jury issues indictments or closes quietly; and what happens to the September benchmark price momentum in the meantime. The class action proceeds in parallel, and its outcome could shape damages exposure regardless of what Chicago prosecutors decide.

For an industry already squeezed by soft demand and high freight costs, a criminal probe into pricing is one more pressure it didn't need.