Sonoco will increase prices

Sonoco will increase prices for its paper-based engineered carriers by 6-9 percent in the United States, effective May 1. Sonoco also announced plans to increase prices in Continental Europe and the Nordic Countries by 8-12 percent, effective May 15.

"This price increase is driven primarily by cost increases in paperboard and specialty papers, adhesives, freight, energy, repair materials and other vital supplies. Historically, full implementation of our price increases for engineered carriers lags increased raw material costs in the short term," said Harris E. DeLoach, Jr., senior executive vice president and chief operating officer. "Therefore, we would not expect to realize a positive impact from the price increase in the second quarter. This is a normal market characteristic that we have successfully managed in the past and expect to do so again," said DeLoach. "We continue to see strong demand for our engineered carriers, with paper mills running at capacity and productivity improvement continuing.