Prices / 5 MIN READ

Why packaging prices jumped in 2026 and what to do

Another price increase letter lands on the buyer's desk. Wrap up 8%, boxes up 5%, "effective from the first of next month". Someone asks whether it's fair. Nobody can say.

By KP Trading & Distribution · 5 minute read

Why packaging prices jumped in 2026 and what to do, KP Trading and Distribution. Photo is illustrative. — Packaging prices and cost per use · Photo is illustrative

Packaging prices did rise in 2026, and some of it is real. But a rise on a letter tells you nothing about your cost per pallet, and that's the number that decides whether you're losing money. This post shows what moved, what didn't, and what you can control.

What actually pushed packaging prices up in 2026?

Oil, mostly. The ONS producer price figures for August 2026 show input prices up 6.1% on a year earlier, with crude oil up 26.7%. Plastic products rose on the back of PVC and resin costs.

Resin is the raw material behind film, wrap and bags. European data from Flexible Packaging Europe shows polymer prices in the second quarter of 2026 against the first: LDPE up 31%, HDPE up 38% and BOPP up 97%. That's European data, not UK, but UK converters buy from the same market.

Paper's a gentler story. ONS puts paper product output prices up just 1.7% on the year, and the Food and Drink Federation's July dashboard has paper and paperboard up 2.4%.

Tax played a part for plastic packaging too. The Plastic Packaging Tax rate rose to £228.82 a tonne from 1 April 2026, on packaging with under 30% recycled plastic.

Freight and energy didn't help. The same FDF dashboard has UK haulage up 6.7% and the Freightos index up 48.9% on the year. Wholesale gas was up 59.5%.

Is every increase letter justified?

No. Some are, and some are a supplier resetting margin while everyone is braced for bad news.

Here's a simple test. Check what the product is made from, then check what that material did. A box made largely from recovered paper shouldn't rise like a film made from polymer. UK old corrugated cardboard (grade 1.05) was trading at £55 to £88 a tonne in January 2026 and £94 to £112 in September, according to letsrecycle. That's a real move. It isn't the oil-driven jump you see in plastics.

So a flat 8% on everything, boxes and wrap alike, deserves a question.

What does accepting a rise blindly cost you?

Two things. The first is the rise itself. The second is the one nobody sees.

When price per pack goes up, buyers hunt for a cheaper pack. That's where the trouble starts. A thinner roll, a lighter board or a shorter edge looks fine on the quote. On the floor, the team uses more of it to get the pallet out of the door.

We've seen this on real sites. One factory bought pallet edges at 11p each. The pallets stood 1400mm high and the edges were 1.1m, so the team cut and doubled them: four per corner, 16 a pallet. That's £1.76 a pallet. A single 1450mm edge at an illustrative 17p would do the job for 68p a pallet.

The dearer edge was the cheaper way to ship a pallet. Nobody saw it. The invoice only showed 11p.

Not sure what yours are costing you? We'll check them with you on site.

What can you actually control?

You can't control oil. You can control six things, and we'll go through them.

Specification comes first. Is the board heavier than the product needs? Is the film thick enough for the load, or thicker than it needs to be? A spec set years ago for a different product is a spec nobody has questioned.

Cost per use is next. Measure what a pallet, a case or a shift costs, not what a roll or a pack costs. Weigh the roll, check the thickness and count the pieces used per pallet.

Then there's where you buy. Buying at source cuts out layers between the mill or converter and your dock. We buy at source and for many factories, so pooled volume gives you more weight than one site's order does.

Timing matters too. If a polymer spike is working through the market, buying ahead and holding stock in the UK smooths the bump. We buy ahead and hold stock, you call it off and pay on delivery.

Call-off helps with cash. You don't tie up a pallet's worth of money for six months to get a better price.

Lastly, consistency. Lock the spec, and a supplier can't swap in something thinner when prices move.

What five questions should you ask before accepting a price rise?

Ask what the increase is based on. A good supplier can point to a material, a date and a percentage. A vague "market conditions" isn't an answer.

Ask what's changed in the product itself. Has the thickness, length, weight or board grade moved since the last order? If you don't have the old measurements, you can't tell.

Ask what your cost per pallet looks like on the new price. Take your usage per pallet, multiply it by the new price, and compare it with the old figure.

Ask how long the price is held. A rise with no end date is a permanent reset. A rise with a review date is a negotiation.

Ask what happens if you move volume. Your supplier already knows what a bigger or pooled order is worth to them. You should know too.

Put these in an email, ask for written replies and file the answers. Your buyer should do it before anyone signs.

How often should you review your packaging prices?

Check the market every quarter. Check your own usage every month. The ONS publishes producer prices monthly, and the FDF dashboard is free. Your buyer can have both open in ten minutes.

Do a full spec and cost per use review once a year, with your operations team in the room. If a price rise lands, do it earlier.

Frequently asked questions

Why did UK packaging prices go up in 2026?

Mainly oil and polymer costs, plus freight and energy. ONS data for August 2026 shows crude oil up 26.7% on the year, and European polymer prices rose sharply in the second quarter.

Are paper and cardboard prices rising as fast as plastic?

No. ONS has paper product output prices up 1.7% on the year, against much larger moves in plastics. Recovered paper prices did rise during 2026, though.

Can I push back on a price increase?

Yes. Ask what it's based on, check it against the market, and compare the new cost per pallet with the old one. Suppliers expect questions from buyers who ask them.

Is a cheaper pack always a saving?

No. If the team cuts, doubles or adds extra layers to make it work, cost per pallet can rise even while the price per pack falls.

Send us your last price increase letter

Send us your last price increase letter. We'll check it against the market and against your cost per use, and tell you what we find.

Better still, let us do it as part of our free site check. We walk the site with your operations team for about 30 minutes and send a written report. No contract. Where testing is needed, we arrange it. We actively source as much recyclable product as we can, so we'll look at that too.

Most sites start with layer pads, pallet edges, pallet wrap or gloves, on a 30 day trial of five products.

Email sales@kptrading.uk or call 020 4576 5500.