OCC (Old Corrugated Containers): Market Size & Forecast 2026

The global recovered fibre market, anchored by old corrugated containers (OCC), sits at approximately USD 45.0 billion in 2025 (base year), held in a structurally tight balance between steady containerboard demand growth, volatile recovered-paper pricing that ranged USD 82.87-181.99 per short ton over the past year, and a US-China trade regime that now layers a roughly 35% combined ad valorem duty stack on certain recovered-fibre flows. The category is mature but not static: e-commerce packaging volumes, mill investment in recycled-content containerboard lines, and EU PPWR recycled-content mandates from 2030 are the primary demand catalysts. > **Analyst Take.** The call is to treat OCC as a strategic feedstock, not a spot commodity. A 3.2% CAGR with a 35% duty stack on China-origin material and PPWR compliance deadlines from 2030 means buyers who fix single-origin or fixed-price contract

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