<B>Corrugated Shipments Drop for November, YTD</B>

The Fibre Box Association reported that shipments of corrugated products declined by 3.9 percent for November, compared to figures the same time last year. Shipments for the month stand at 31.560 billion square feet, compard to last November’s figure of 32.841 billion square feet.

The figures for the month brought the 11-month total to 369.185 billion square feet, a 0.7 percent decline from last year.

The decline for the month was seen in each of the six regions reported by the FBA. The biggest loser was the North Central, which saw shipments decline by 5.6 percent, followed by the South Central, down 5.4 percent.

Other regions and their change for the month are the following: East Central, down 4.5 percent; Northeast, down 2.8 percent; Southeast, down 2.7 percent; and the West, down 2.7 percent.

For the first 11 months shipments from the Southeast climbed by 1.3 percent. Other regions posted mixed figures for the first 11 months. The biggest loser was the Northeast, which saw shipments slip by 3.1 percent; the South Central saw shipments decline by 1.9 percent; and the West posted a shipment decline of 0.9 percent.

Increases, in addition to the Southeast, were realized by the East Central, which increased shipments by 0.5 percent and the North Central, which saw shipments climb by 0.7 percent.