PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA (PKG)

Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, is the third largest producer of containerboard products and a leading producer of uncoated freesheet (UFS) paper in North America, operating primarily in the United States through eight mills and 86 corrugated products plants. The company reports in three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment, which generated $7.1 billion in third-party net sales in 2023, produced 4.5 million tons of containerboard and sold 60.5 billion square feet of corrugated products, manufacturing linerboard and corrugating medium used in a wide variety of corrugated packaging products including shipping containers, retail displays, protective packaging, and specialized packaging for food and beverage industries; total annual containerboard capacity was approximately 5.1 million tons across mills in Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington, and Alabama, supported by 86 manufacturing locations including 58 combining/corrugated plants, 27 sheet plants, and one sheet-only facility serving roughly 14,000 customers in about 30,000 locations, with no single customer exceeding 10% of segment sales and primary national competitors including International Paper, WestRock, and Georgia-Pacific.

The Paper segment operates one mill in International Falls, Minnesota, with capacity for approximately 500,000 tons annually of commodity and specialty communication and printing/converting papers, serving about 40 customers in roughly 150 locations; ODP Corporation is the largest customer, representing 61% of Paper segment sales and 5% of consolidated revenue in 2023, under an agreement extending through December 2025, with major competitors including Domtar, Sylvamo, and various foreign producers, amid antidumping/countervailing duties benefiting domestic producers. Both segments rely heavily on virgin and recycled wood fiber (with 18% recycled fiber usage in containerboard production), self-generated biogenic fuels (63% of packaging mill fuel and 76% of paper mill fuel from mill by-products), and various chemicals, with sustainability certifications from SFI, PEFC, and FSC. The Corporate and Other segment includes corporate support functions, transportation assets, and a 50%-owned variable interest entity, Louisiana Timber Procurement Company.

As of December 31, 2023, PCA employed approximately 14,900 people (4,300 salaried, 10,600 hourly), with about 63% of hourly workers under collective bargaining agreements represented by unions including USW, PPPWU, AWPPW, IAM, and IBT, and the company reported no work stoppages during 2023 and satisfactory labor relations.