PPKGPackaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America makes containerboard and turns it into boxes at its own plants.

Integration is the essence of the model: mills produce the board and plants turn it into boxes for a specific customer. That protects against swings in the open-market board price, which rises and falls in waves, and keeps capacity utilisation above the industry average.

The company deliberately does not chase volume at any price: when demand falls it takes a machine down rather than cutting price — a discipline not everyone in the industry observes. Demand comes from food, drink and online retail and is steadier than most industrial materials. Risks: recovered paper and energy prices, overcapacity. The dividend is high.