The corrugated industry continues to see high box demand in the early part of 2022. We saw dramatic increases in linerboard prices last year. Current linerboard pricing has not changed since the most recent increase that posted in August of 2021. Many of the same issues plaguing the marketplace in 2021 continue in 2022. This includes demand far outrunning the supply, transportation costs that continue to increase, and substantial labor shortages. We continue to prioritize our management of not only our labor and production needs, but also our raw material suppliers who all face the same pandemic economy challenges.
In the market locally, many corrugated suppliers have lead times ranging from four to eight weeks or more. We are also seeing some local corrugated box plants turning away business due to high demand.