<b>Corrugated Shipments Declining</B>

A further reflection of the slowdown in the paperboard industry and, perhaps, a slowdown in the U.S. economy in general is the reduction in the shipment of corrugated products to final destinations. According to monthly figures from the Fibre Box Association shipments dipped by 0.5 percent in June to 33.932 billion square feet, as demand continues to ease up. The result has been an increase in the inventory of finished product at mills.

Although total shipments were down for June, broken out by individual regions was more of a mixed bag. Coastal regions saw the biggest declines, with shipments of corrugated from the East Coast dropping by more than 6 percent for the month and West Coast shipments dropping 3.4 percent.

On the positive side shipments from the East Central, Southeast and North Central increased for the month, with the East Central increasing 3.9 percent, the Southeast up 2.4 percent, and the North Central up 1.7 percent.

Shipments for the year to date are still up. For the first six months shipments are up 0.7 percent, according to the FBA. A total of 202.052 billion square feet have been shipped over the first six months, compared to last year's six-month total of slightly more than 200 billion square feet.

Containerboard consumption is up for the month and year to date. June's consumption level stands at 2.617 million tons, a 0.8 percent increase from last June's figure. For the first six months consumption stands at 15.439 million tons, a 0.6 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the inventory of containerboard at corrugator plants at the and of June declined by 2.2 percent to 2.661 million tons. The weeks of supply on hand at the end of June declined by 6.2 percent to 4.5 weeks.