Box Shipments Decline in July

The shipment of corrugated products declined during July, according to the Fibre Box Association. For the month shipments stand at 32.753 billion square feet, a 0.4 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

The shipment total for the month pushed the seven-month total to 219.212 billion square feet, a 1.6 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

While the shipment fell for both the month and first seven months, several regions of the country were able to boost shipment totals. The South Central and North Central U.S. both posted increases for the month, with the South Central leading the way with a 1.9 percent increase for the month. The North Central also showed some improvements, with shipments up 1.7 percent between this year and last year.

The biggest decliner was the Southeast, which saw shipments slip by 3 percent for the month. Other decliners included the Northeast, which declined by 1.5 percent; and the West, which saw shipments slip by 0.9 percent. The East Central U.S. was flat between last year and this year.

For the first seven months of the year the Western U.S. saw shipments increase by the greatest amount, 0.5 percent, while the Northeast saw the sharpest decline in shipments, declining 3.8 percent. Other regions and the decrease or increase were the following: Southeast, dropping 3.3 percent; North Central, down 3.1 percent; and the East Central U.S., declining 1.1 percent.

On the up side, in addition to the Western U.S., the South Central U.S. has seen shipments move up by 0.3 percent between the first seven months of this year and the first seven months last year.

Along with the decline in shipments, the consumption of containerboard at domestic plants dropped by 0.2 percent for July to 2.517 million tons. The decline for the month resulted in the seven-month consumption total dropping 0.4 percent to 16.817 million tons.