Corrugated Shipment Rise

The shipment of corrugated products increased by 1.6 percent for September to 32.649 billion square feet, compared to figures the same time last year.

According to the Fibre Box Association, the shipments for the month pushed the nine-month shipment total to 293.944 billion square feet, a 3.6 percent increase from figures the same time last year.

The region with the biggest gain for the month was the East Central U.S., which saw shipments climb by 4.6 percent for the month. Additionally, this region posted the strongest improvement over the first nine months of the year, up 4.8 percent.

The biggest decline came from the West, which showed shipments dropping a surprising 3 percent for the month. Despite the decline for the month the shipment for the first nine months of the year is still up 3.4 percent from the same time last year.

The steady improvement in shipments helped to push the September consumption of containerboard up 0.8 percent to 2.525 million tons, a 0.8 percent  increase from figures the same time last year.

The figures for September pushed the nine-month consumption figure to 22.727 million tons, a 4.4 percent increase from figures the same time last year.

The improvement in consumption and shipment figures resulted in an increase in the inventory of containerboard and plants. At the end of September inventories stand at 2.247 million tons, a 2.2 percent increase from figures the previous month.

Despite the increase in inventory, the weeks of supply on hand dropped by 2.6 percent from August to September of this year.