According to the association the shipment of corrugated products dropped 3.8 percent for May to 32.310 billion square feet. The drop for the month brought the five-month total to 159.713 billion square feet, a 5.4 percent decline from last year.
Most regions of the country posted declines for the month, with the Western U.S. the only region posting an improvement between last year and this year. The North Central U.S. posted the sharpest decline for both the month and year to date. May’s shipments from the North Central dropped by 5.9 percent, while the shipment total the first five months dropped 7 percent.
The consumption of containerboard at domestic mills also dropped for May and the first five months, according to the FBA. For May, consumption stands at 2.423 million tons, a 3.1 percent drop from figures the same time last year. Meanwhile, the consumption for the first five months dropped an even steeper 6.5 percent to 12.025 million tons.
The only modestly positive news for the containerboard industry has been the decline in inventory levels. Figures show that the containerboard inventory at the end of May stand at 2.372 million tons, a 4.1 percent decline from the previous month.
Despite the drop, the weekly of supply on hand climbed by 7.5 percent to 4.3 weeks of supply.