Key Takeaways
- • Fastmarkets launched the Corrugated Cost Benchmark (CCB) for North America on October 19, 2026, a calculated index tracking changes in the principal costs of manufacturing and delivering corrugated boxes.
- • The CCB combines Fastmarkets' virgin and recycled fiber price data with third-party economic and cost indicators covering labor, energy, chemicals, maintenance, other manufacturing costs, and transportation.
- • The benchmark is expressed in index points with January 2019 set at a baseline of 100, and measures changes in a modeled industry-average cost basket rather than absolute box prices.
- • Once published, CCB values will not be revised solely because a third-party data provider later revises its underlying data, a clarification adopted after the consultation that closed October 5, 2026.
Summary
Fastmarkets launched the Corrugated Cost Benchmark (CCB) for North America on October 19, 2026, following a consultation that closed on October 5, 2026. The company said the benchmark is designed to provide greater transparency into changes in the underlying costs of manufacturing and delivering corrugated boxes in North America, responding to market demand for a robust and consistent measure of those changes.
The CCB is a calculated benchmark that combines Fastmarkets' virgin and recycled fiber price data with third-party economic and cost indicators covering labor, energy, chemicals, maintenance, other manufacturing costs, and transportation. Each component is indexed to a baseline of 100 in January 2019. For each reference month, fixed component weights are applied and the weighted component indices are summed. The index is calculated using unrounded values and published to two decimal places. Where an underlying observation has not been released at the time of calculation, the latest available value is used.
The benchmark measures changes in a modeled industry-average cost basket and does not represent the absolute cost or market price of a corrugated box. Following feedback received during the consultation and further methodology review, Fastmarkets clarified its treatment of third-party data revisions: once a CCB value is published, it will not be revised solely because an underlying data provider revises its data. Corrections arising from calculation or publication errors will follow Fastmarkets' corrections policy. The final methodology and specifications are available on the Fastmarkets methodology page, and feedback may be sent to [email protected] and [email protected] under the subject heading "Fastmarkets Corrugated Cost Benchmark — North America."
The CCB is a calculated benchmark that combines Fastmarkets' virgin and recycled fiber price data with third-party economic and cost indicators covering labor, energy, chemicals, maintenance, other manufacturing costs, and transportation. Each component is indexed to a baseline of 100 in January 2019. For each reference month, fixed component weights are applied and the weighted component indices are summed. The index is calculated using unrounded values and published to two decimal places. Where an underlying observation has not been released at the time of calculation, the latest available value is used.
The benchmark measures changes in a modeled industry-average cost basket and does not represent the absolute cost or market price of a corrugated box. Following feedback received during the consultation and further methodology review, Fastmarkets clarified its treatment of third-party data revisions: once a CCB value is published, it will not be revised solely because an underlying data provider revises its data. Corrections arising from calculation or publication errors will follow Fastmarkets' corrections policy. The final methodology and specifications are available on the Fastmarkets methodology page, and feedback may be sent to [email protected] and [email protected] under the subject heading "Fastmarkets Corrugated Cost Benchmark — North America."
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