GRAPHIC PACKAGING HOLDING CO (GPK)

Graphic Packaging Holding Company is a global provider of sustainable consumer packaging. It is one of the largest producers of cartons and containers for consumer goods and of paperboard-based foodservice packaging in the United States and Europe. It also holds leading positions in the recycled, unbleached and bleached paperboard used to make consumer packaging. It produces paperboard at its own mills, converts it into cartons, containers and other packaging, and designs and manufactures proprietary packaging machines that it installs at customer plants and services. The company has grown through acquisitions, including Americraft Carton (2021), AR Packaging Group (2021) and Bell Incorporated (2023). It has also closed or consolidated several mills and packaging plants and sold its Russian operations in November 2023.

The company reports three segments. Paperboard Manufacturing comprises seven North American mills producing unbleached, bleached and recycled paperboard, mostly consumed internally, with the remainder sold to converters and brokers. Americas Paperboard Packaging sells paperboard packaging to consumer packaged goods companies, and cups, lids and food containers to foodservice companies and quick-service restaurants. Europe Paperboard Packaging sells paperboard packaging mainly to consumer packaged goods companies in food, beverage and consumer products, including healthcare and beauty. Products offer strength, promotional, convenience and cooking (such as multi-packs and active microwave packaging) and barrier performance. About 78% of 2023 paperboard production was used internally. The company is the largest producer of unbleached paperboard worldwide and the largest North American producer of recycled paperboard. It owns more than 2,900 patents and rights, with trademarks such as KeelClip and MicroRite.

Its customers are multinational beverage, food, quick-service restaurant, household and health and beauty companies, including Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Nestlé, McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, L'Oréal and Colgate. It also sells paperboard on the open market to independent and integrated packaging producers. End markets include beverage, food, prepared food, household products, air filter frames, and healthcare and beauty. It operates in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, selling mainly through sales offices in the U.S., Europe, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan and Australia, and to a lesser degree through brokers. No customer accounted for 10% or more of net sales in 2023, 2022 or 2021. Sales are moderately seasonal, rising from late spring through early fall.

The main raw materials are pine and hardwood fiber and recycled fiber, along with energy, plastic resins and chemicals. The mills in Louisiana, Georgia and Texas buy fiber from private landowners and the open market, while the recycled mills in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Québec use 100% recycled fiber from external suppliers and internal packaging operations. It buys additional paperboard grades from outside vendors, mostly under long-term arrangements, and hedges part of its natural gas needs. Its main competitors include WestRock in unbleached paperboard, Klabin and Stora Enso internationally, and plastic and corrugated packaging in beverage packaging. It also has a 50% joint venture in Japan, Rengo Riverwood Packaging. At the end of 2023 it had about 23,500 employees in 122 locations across 26 countries, and about 58% were represented by unions or works councils.