Corrugated box shipments slide
Containerboard inventories drop
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 9/19/2007 2:38:00 PM
Corrugated box shipments in August of 33.5 billion cubic feet continued a lengthy slide, according to Fibre Box Association subscription-only report, that has brought the year-to-date decline in shipments to 1.1% compared with a year ago. "There is some evidence that slowing economic trends are providing a headwind for box shipments," Peter Ruschmeier of Lehman Brothers in New York says in a market note.
Data provided to subscribers by the RISI.com paper products news site shows that containerboard inventories at box plants and mills dropped by 20,000 tons to 2.394 million tons, the lowest reported level in 14 months. However, the decline was slightly less than the normal seasonal decline of 34,000 tons.
U.S. linerboard mills ran at 99.7% of capacity in August, not much changed from 100% in July, and up from the year-to-date average of 97.4%, according to American Forest & Paper Association member-only statistics reported by RISI.com.
Containerboard production in August dropped 0.3% from a year ago, but was up 0.3% year-to-date. Export production continued to provide a boost and rose 5.8% in August and 17% year-to-date from the same periods last year.
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