US containerboard production down in Q3

The Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has released its quarterly containerboard and boxboard reports for the third quarter of 2025, revealing a second straight decline in United States containerboard production.

According to AF&PA’s report, total U.S. containerboard production in the third quarter of this year decreased 3.1 percent compared with the third quarter of 2024 and is down 3 percent compared with the first nine months of last year.

The year started with U.S. containerboard production essentially flat in the first quarter but has since declined the rest of this year. In the second quarter of 2025, total containerboard production output was down 5 percent compared with the second quarter of 2024 and down 3 percent compared with the first half of last year.

Also in the second quarter of this year, mill inventory levels had peaked in May, reaching their highest levels in more than 15 months to end the quarter at 433,000 short tons, but have since peaked again. In the third quarter, inventory levels peaked in August to nearly 462,000 short tons before declining 8 percent in September.

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The AF&PA does report a quarterly increase in operating rates for all four major grades as capacity declined 1.7 percent over the same period, while year-to-date operating rates are essentially flat.

Domestic new supply in the third quarter also was essentially flat compared with the first quarter—an improvement from what AF&PA says was a weak second quarter. During the second quarter of this year, domestic new supply shrank 1.2 percent while production for export declined nearly 12 percent.

Meanwhile, the AF&PA reports that total boxboard production in the third quarter of this year was down 2 percent compared with the same period last year, while the boxboard was down 1.7 percent to finish at 88.7 percent for the quarter.

The decreased boxboard operating rate marks the second straight quarter where that rate has faced a decline. However, in the second quarter, total boxboard production essentially had been flat.