International Paper makes containerboard and corrugated packaging — the boxes and shipping containers used to move goods across industries including food and beverage, e-commerce, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. The core product is the corrugated box, which starts as containerboard (linerboard and medium) made at IP's mills and then gets converted into finished boxes and specialty packaging at its network of converting plants. IP is integrated end-to-end, with roughly 90% of its North American containerboard production consumed internally by its own box plants — a model that keeps more margin in-house rather than selling containerboard as a commodity. IP sells directly to end users through a national sales force for large accounts and a decentralized field sales structure for smaller accounts. Following its 2025 acquisition of DS Smith, IP operates two segments: Packaging Solutions North America (~63% of sales) and Packaging Solutions EMEA (~36% of sales). IP announced plans in January 2026 to spin off the EMEA business as an independent public company, expected by end of 2026 or early 2027. Profitability is driven by containerboard and box pricing (indexed to trade indices), box shipment volumes (which track goods-economy activity), mill utilization, fiber costs, and energy costs. Under CEO Andy Silvernail, IP's strategy focuses on cutting its fixed cost base by closing mills and rationalizing facilities, improving customer service and on-time delivery, and investing in greenfield plants and mill conversions.