distribution xpedx , our north american merchant distribution business , distributes products and services to a number of customer markets including : commercial printers with printing papers and graphic pre-press , printing presses and post-press equipment ; building services and away-from-home markets with facility supplies ; manufacturers with packaging supplies and equipment ; and to a growing number of customers , we exclusively provide distribution capabilities including warehousing and delivery services . xpedx is the leading wholesale distribution marketer in these customer and product segments in north america , operating 122 warehouse locations and 130 retail stores in the united states , mexico and cana- forest products international paper owns and manages approx- imately 200000 acres of forestlands and develop- ment properties in the united states , mostly in the south . our remaining forestlands are managed as a portfolio to optimize the economic value to our shareholders . most of our portfolio represents prop- erties that are likely to be sold to investors and other buyers for various purposes . specialty businesses and other chemicals : this business was sold in the first quarter of 2007 . ilim holding s.a . in october 2007 , international paper and ilim holding s.a . ( ilim ) completed a 50:50 joint venture to operate a pulp and paper business located in russia . ilim 2019s facilities include three paper mills located in bratsk , ust-ilimsk , and koryazhma , russia , with combined total pulp and paper capacity of over 2.5 million tons . ilim has exclusive harvesting rights on timberland and forest areas exceeding 12.8 million acres ( 5.2 million hectares ) . products and brand designations appearing in italics are trademarks of international paper or a related company . industry segment results industrial packaging demand for industrial packaging products is closely correlated with non-durable industrial goods pro- duction , as well as with demand for processed foods , poultry , meat and agricultural products . in addition to prices and volumes , major factors affecting the profitability of industrial packaging are raw material and energy costs , freight costs , manufacturing effi- ciency and product mix . industrial packaging results for 2009 and 2008 include the cbpr business acquired in the 2008 third quarter . net sales for 2009 increased 16% ( 16 % ) to $ 8.9 billion compared with $ 7.7 billion in 2008 , and 69% ( 69 % ) compared with $ 5.2 billion in 2007 . operating profits were 95% ( 95 % ) higher in 2009 than in 2008 and more than double 2007 levels . benefits from higher total year-over-year shipments , including the impact of the cbpr business , ( $ 11 million ) , favorable operating costs ( $ 294 million ) , and lower raw material and freight costs ( $ 295 million ) were parti- ally offset by the effects of lower price realizations ( $ 243 million ) , higher corporate overhead allocations ( $ 85 million ) , incremental integration costs asso- ciated with the acquisition of the cbpr business ( $ 3 million ) and higher other costs ( $ 7 million ) . additionally , operating profits in 2009 included a gain of $ 849 million relating to alternative fuel mix- ture credits , u.s . plant closure costs of $ 653 million , and costs associated with the shutdown of the eti- enne mill in france of $ 87 million . industrial packaging in millions 2009 2008 2007 .
what was the increase in industrial packaging sales between 2008 and 2009?
north american industrial packaging results include the net sales and operating profits of the cbpr business from the august 4 , 2008 acquis- ition date . net sales were $ 7.6 billion in 2009 com- pared with $ 6.2 billion in 2008 and $ 3.9 billion in 2007 . operating profits in 2009 were $ 791 million ( $ 682 million excluding alternative fuel mixture cred- its , mill closure costs and costs associated with the cbpr integration ) compared with $ 322 million ( $ 414 million excluding charges related to the write-up of cbpr inventory to fair value , cbpr integration costs and other facility closure costs ) in 2008 and $ 305 million in 2007 . excluding the effect of the cbpr acquisition , con- tainerboard and box shipments were lower in 2009 compared with 2008 reflecting weaker customer demand . average sales price realizations were sig- nificantly lower for both containerboard and boxes due to weaker world-wide economic conditions . however , average sales margins for boxes .