The domestic shipment of corrugated products increased by 1.8 percent to 31.095 billion square feet for March, according to recent figures from the Fibre Box Association. The total for the month pushed the three-month total to 91.59 billion square feet, a 0.4 percent improvement from figures the same time last year.
Leading the improvement was the Western U.S., which saw shipments jump by 6.4 percent for the month. For the first three months shipments climbed 2.5 percent to 16.113 billion square feet.
The other large gainer for the month was the South Central U.S., which saw shipments jump by 3.9 percent for March to 6.435 billion square feet. For the first three months shipments stand at 1.5 billion square feet.
For March, the biggest decline came from the Southeast, which saw shipments drop 0.9 percent. The Northeast, which saw shipments dip by 0.8 percent for March, also saw shipments drop the largest for the first three months, by 2 percent.
While shipments improved, the consumption of containerboard at domestic plants posted a sharp 4.1 percent jump for March. For the month consumption stands at 2.391 million tons, compared to last March’s consumption total of 2.297 million tons. For the first three months of the year consumption stands at 7.035 million tons, a 1.7 percent increase from figures the same time last year.
The inventory of containerboard at corrugator plants declined by 1.3 percent at the end of March to 2.399 million tons from figures the same time last year.
The drop in inventory levels cut the weeks of supply on hand to 4.2 weeks, a 6.7 percent drop from figures the previous month.