Market Data
Paper PPI: From Index Changes to Budget Sensitivity
Paper, up about 10.0% from a year ago. Paper is the source's product category. It is not a paperboard, corrugated container or finished packaging index. Earlier descriptions on these URLs overstated that scope.
The BLS Paper Producer Price Index (WPU0913) reads 282.27 index (1982=100) for Aug 2026, up about 10.0% from a year ago. The reference period identifies the observation; a later website refresh does not turn it into a daily price. This is a producer price index, not a delivered quote in dollars per unit.
Paper is the source's product category. It is not a paperboard, corrugated container or finished packaging index. Earlier descriptions on these URLs overstated that scope.
Apply the change only to exposed spend
For paper procurement, check grade, basis weight, finish, recycled content and contract terms. For boxes or cartons, obtain the appropriate paperboard or container benchmark and supplier specification. Converting, printing, adhesives and delivery require separate cost evidence.
A useful sensitivity is exposed spend × assumed index change × assumed pass-through. For example, $100,000 of genuinely benchmark-linked spend, a hypothetical 5% move and 60% pass-through produces a $3,000 change. Those are explicit example assumptions, not observed market values. Fixed-price spend, unmatched products and delivery charges should not automatically receive the same increase.
Keep physical efficiency separate
Yield, scrap, consumption and product price affect different parts of a cost calculation. Record them separately so an efficiency improvement is not counted twice or mistaken for an agency price move. Quote comparisons should use cost per accepted unit on the same specification and delivery basis.
Changes in paper producer prices do not establish a change in shipping volumes, factory orders or packaging demand. Those questions require quantity or activity observations over matching periods.
Source and update notes
The source is BLS series WPU0913, also published by FRED at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU0913. The linked data page provides the current observation and available history. A successful refresh changes readings only when the source returns changed data. Missing or failed observations must retain their original periods and be reported as unavailable or delayed.
Published 2026-07-13.