Packaging 101

Paper grades

An introduction to paper grades

Understanding paper grades can be
overwhelming, especially if you are new to
the industry. There are hundreds - if not
thousands - of varieties of paper products.
Grades can be categorized by basis weight,
category, manufacturer, region, along with
many other attributes. Don’t worry. You can
learn to identify the most common grades
without feeling like you’re learning a new
language. This cheat sheet is a great start.

www.risi.com/Packaging101
What are grades?
Paper grades can be used for graphic printing or packaging, include virgin pulp, recovered or recycled
wastepaper, be coated or uncoated, and be bleached or unbleached.

Containerboard
The most common application of containerboard
is to make boxes used for shipping and storage.
Containerboard is made up of two distinct parts:
linerboard and corrugated medium. Linerboard is used
for the outside sheets and the corrugated medium
is the wavy fluting in between them. The board and
fluting are glued together to make sheets. The sheets
are cut and printed, then converted into a box.
Containerboard styles and flute types are specifically
tailored to the customer’s requirements for strength,
padding, and display. Typically, using larger and
more numerous flutes and boards increases the box’s
strength and padding. The opposite is true for smaller
flutes and fewer layers of board.

Sample Hierarchy of Grades

Here is a common approach to how categories of paper can be broken down:

Super grade Main grade Grade Product/sub-product

CRB - Coated recycled board
Coated recycled CRB - Greyback duplex (GBD)
board CRB - White-lined chipboard (WLC)
CRB - Whiteback duplex (WBD)
URB - Cartonboard
Recycled
URB - Coreboard
cartonboard
Boxboard / Cartonboard

URB - Duplex
Uncoated
URB - Gypsum backing
recycled board
URB - Gypsum Facing
URB - Other
URB - Uncoated recycled board (URB)
VC - Beverage carrier
VC - Bristols
VC - Ctd. unbleached (unbl.) folding carton
VC - Cup and plate stock
VC - Folding boxboard (FBB)
Virgin Virgin
VC - Folding carton
cartonboard cartonboard
VC - lvoryboard (IVB)
VC - Liquid packaging
VC - Other
VC - Solid bleached sulphate (SBS)
VC - UBFC (uncoated bleached folding carton)

Figure 1. Excerpt from Fastmarkets RISI’s Mill Asset Database Glossary that illustrates the categorical breakdown of
Boxboard/Cartonboard from super category to product level.
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Paper manufacturers have developed different ways
to construct containerboard to meet demand. In
Graphic paper
today’s market, there are two distinct trends:
Graphic paper is used for traditional print products.
1. A growing demand for white top linerboard, as Newspapers, circulars and paperback books use
more companies need to print graphics on their wood-containing paper made from mechanical pulps
corrugated boxes. which contain lignin and yellow with age. Paper used
for glossy magazines and copy paper are described
2. A growing demand for promotional “point-of-
as woodfree or freesheet papers. These are free from
purchase” displays. This term describes boxes
lignin, can be coated, and are often more expensive.
that are used for shipping, and then opened
and used to displayed goods on the retail
sales floor. Boxes are easily recycled, making
them ideal for seasonal promotions.

Boxboard
Boxboard is the term for all other paperboard, except
containerboard. Boxboard is most commonly used to
package individual products. The largest segment in
this market is folding cartons. You can find folding
carton board on store shelves containing health care
products, frozen food items, tea bags, and thousands
of other products. Other boxboard segments include
packaging for liquids, plates and cups, tubes and
cores, and wallboard facing.
Tissue products
Specialty, wrapping Tissue products are separated into two categories:
and industrial papers at-home and away-from-home products. At-Home
Products include products like napkins, facial tissue,
toilet paper packaged in small bundles and sold
Thousands of different specialty, wrapping, and
to consumers in a supermarket. Away-From-Home
industrial papers exist worldwide. These papers meet
Products are manufactured for the same applications
the unique requirements of products like cement
but packaged in higher quantities and larger bundles
bags, paper shopping bags, gift bags, coffee filters,
and loaded into bulk dispensers, like automatic paper
abrasive sand papers, and cupcake wrappers.
towel dispensers in restrooms.

Wastepaper
Wastepaper is any kind of paper that has been used
for its original purpose, and then diverted from the
waste disposal stream to be recycled. Approximately
80% of the world’s corrugated boxes are recycled.
These old corrugated containers (OCC) are used to
make new containerboard. Many newspapers are
recycled as well. The value of the recovered paper
depends on the ease of processing it into new paper.
White graphic paper, which is entirely of one grade, is
high value because it is already bleached and easier
to recycle. Whereas, mixed paper is low value because
many paper types are bundled together making it
more difficult and expensive to clean.

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Paper grades at a glance
Grade Category Common uses Description Costs*
PACKAGING
Containerboard Cardboard boxes Fundamental construction includes a $
Point-of-purchase corrugated medium between two sheets
displays of linerboard. Sheets are produced then
assembled – or “converted” into a box.

Boxboard Food packaging All other paperboard except containerboard, $$

Sundries converted into various products
Office supplies
Consumer products

Kraft paper Paper bags Unbleached paper $

Wrapping paper
Butchery paper
Linerboard and
corrugated medium

GRAPHIC
Newsprint Newspapers Made mainly from mechanical pulp $
Circulars Will yellow over time

Wood- Paperback Books Not necessarily made from virgin fiber $

containing “Wood” means it contains lignin
Will yellow over time

Woodfree Magazines Known as “free sheet” meaning free from lignin $$

Copy paper Uncoated goes into copy papers
Business Cards Coated grades go into glossy magazines

OTHER
Recovered All uses above Recycled paper products including $
paper but typically not containerboard
specialty paper
or tissue

Specialty Gift wrap Bleached and will accept dyes for hi-res photos $$$
paper High-end goods and prints.
Stationery Many colors and embellishments.
Higher costs due to high quality materials
and special processing.

Tissue Facial Tissue Applies to both home and commercial $

Toilet Paper
Napkins
Paper Towels

* Indicates cost to produce.

Want more? If you want to learn how to track grades and prices, request a consultation at www.risi.com
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Pulp characteristics
A critical component of any paper grade is the pulp
from which it is made. The characteristics of the pulp
are defined by the raw wood fiber it’s made from,
along with chemical treatments, manufacturing
processes, and the desired end-use. Here are some of
the key characteristics you should know.
Integrated v. market
Pulp mills convert pulpwood or wood chips into pulp.
If pulp is referred to as integrated it means the pulp
was made into a slurry and moved directly to the
paper-making machine on site.
Conversely, market pulp is produced at pulp plants
and sold to paper mills elsewhere. Market pulp is
made at pulp mill, run through a dryer, bailed,
and rolled. It is then sold and shipped to a paper
mill, where it is put in a blender and processed to
make paper.
Softwood v. hardwood
Softwoods are the evergreen cone bearing trees, such
as pine, spruce, and firs. Hardwoods are deciduous
trees such as oak, maple and birch. The distinction
between them, for papermaking, does not come
from their hardness but the length of their fibers.
Softwoods have longer fibers that give paper more
strength. Conversely, hardwoods have shorter fibers
that offer more smoothness.
Costs and other factors
The cost of the paper grades you buy is dependent on
many factors, including fiber (recovered paper and
market pulp), energy, transport, labor, exchange rates,
and more. Expanded information on paper cost drivers
is provided in Packaging 101: Tracking Mill Costs.
Regional differences
Naming conventions, fiber mix, input costs, and the
prices of the grades you buy vary across the globe.
Often regional experts and local suppliers can help
Want more? RISI Covers Over 2,200 grades. See them all at www.risi.com/grades
Chemical v. mechanical
Woodchips are converted into pulp via a chemical or
mechanical process.
Chemical pulp uses chemicals, heat, and other processes
to separate the cellulose from lignin in the wood chip.
Lignin is the brown-colored organic substance that
acts as an interfiber bond in trees. The most common
chemical process uses sulfide, and is commonly known
as the Kraft process – named by its inventor, Carl F. Dahl,
after the German word for “strength.”
Mechanical pulp is processed by physically grinding
up wood chips. This process does not remove lignin.
Papers produced in this way, like newspaper, will
yellow when exposed to the sun.
Bleached v. unbleached
Depending on its end use, some pulp has been
bleached at the pulp mill or left in its natural
state. For example, white copy paper is made from
bleached pulp, while a brown grocery bag is not.
Paper grade pulp v.
specialty pulp
Paper grade pulp is used for the most common paper
grades, as described in previous section. Specialty pulp
is used for special applications. This includes fluff pulp
for diapers and dissolving pulp for rayon material.
you decipher regional differences, so you can better
track paper grades prices and capacity changes that
impact your business.
Grade substitutions
Some grades can be substituted and others cannot.
If you are a buyer, discuss options with suppliers
and explain your requirements. Suppliers often have
valuable knowledge about the grades they sell and
can offer advice and regional insight that might not
be readily available to buyers.
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Intelligence Center
Fastmarkets RISI helps procurement professionals
and supply chain executives understand and prepare
for volatility in the paper market that drives their
packaging costs. We provide industry-leading price
indices, news, forecasts and supplier information for
the paper grades you buy. Our Intelligence Center (IC)
fully-integrates data and analysis to instantly provide
meaningful, actionable insight you can use to buy
smarter.
Thanks to feedback from our customers at the biggest
consumer products companies in the world, we have
developed simple, powerful tools that enable buyers.
With IC, you can easily track current and future market
conditions; identify critical information for negotiations
and easily create reports for management.
IC supports buyers in four main areas:
• Developing advanced market expertise
• Applying insight to price negotiations
• Enhancing plans and forecasts
• Improving supplier analysis

Learn more at www.risi.com/buyers

About Fastmarkets RISI

Fastmarkets RISI is the most authoritative source of
information and data for the global paper industry. Our Fastmarkets RISI offers comprehensive
objective coverage and analysis of markets, prices and coverage of all packaging, graphic
suppliers provide our clients with the understanding and and feedstock paper grades:
insight they need to operate in a changing marketplace.
• Linerboard
We employ over 150 editors, economists and analysts • Corrugated medium
around the world to deliver comprehensive coverage
• Boxboard
with regional expertise. All Fastmarkets RISI employees
operate according to a rigorous code of conduct • Kraft papers
as well as a compliance and ethics policy. This • Specialty papers
practice, combined with our clear and transparent • Recovered papers
methodologies ensure that all Fastmarkets RISI • Pulp
information is reliable and unbiased.
• Coated freesheet
For over 30 years, the world's largest consumer • Coated mechanical
products companies, paper manufacturers and
converters have relied on Fastmarkets RISI to help them • Uncoated freesheet
understand markets and make better decisions. Now, • Uncoated mechanical
the Intelligence Center can help you do the same. Get • Offset papers
reliable Fastmarkets RISI information customized to • Copy and office papers
highlight the market dynamics most important to you.
• Newsprint

Fastmarkets RISI | Phone (Americas): +1.866.271.8525 | Phone (Rest of World): +32.2.536.0748 | www.RISI.com
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