Corrugated Continues Upward Swing

The most recent figures from the Fibre Box Association show the shipment of corrugated products continues to improve. For July shipments stand at 34.029 billion square feet, a 3.3 percent improvement from figures the same time last year.

Corrugated shipments over the first seven months of the year also highlight the turnaround in the business. For this year, the seven-month figure stands at 228.53 billion square feet, a 3.7 percent improvement from last year’s seven-month total of 220.46 billion square feet.

Leading the improvement for both July and the first seven months is the Eastern Central U.S. For July, shipments jumped by a strong 6.1 percent, while shipments over the first seven months increased by 4.5 percent.

Other regions and their figures for the month and year to date are the following: Northeast, up 2.1 percent for July and 3.6 percent first seven months; Southeast, up 3 percent for July and up 2.8 percent the first seven months; North Central, up 1.9 percent in July and 3.8 percent the first seven months; South Central, up 3.5 percent for July, 3.4 percent the first seven months; and the West, up 3.1 percent for July and 4.1 percent for the first seven months.

Along with a sharp improvement in shipments, the FBA also reported the consumption of containerboard increased by 4.8 percent to 2.651 million tons for July. For the first seven months the consumption stands at 17.688 million tons, a 4.6 percent increase from the same time last year.

Finally, the inventory of containerboard stands at 2.187 million tons at the end of July, a 9.4 percent improvement from inventory levels the previous month.

The inventory increase pushed the weeks of supply on hand to 3.5 weeks.