Corrugated Shipments Continue to Grow

The most recent figures from the Fibre Box Association show that shipments of corrugated products and consumption of containerboard continue to show strong growth.

For April, the most recently reported month, shipments stand at 34.288 billion square feet, a 5.1 percent increase from figures the same time last year.

The figures for the month pushed the four-month total to 129.394 billion square feet, a 3.7 percent improvement from figures the same time last year.

Leading the charge is the North Central U.S., with shipments jumping by 6.7 percent to 3.919 billion square feet. Other regions, and their shipment totals are the following: Northeast, up 4.6 percent; Southeast, up 4.9 percent; East Central, up 5.9 percent; South Central, up 4.8 percent; and the West, up 4.3 percent.

Over the first four months the Western U.S. realized the greatest jump in shipments. For the Jan.-April time period shipments climbed by 4.8 percent to 23.379 billion square feet. Other regions and their improvement are the following: Northeast, up 3.7 percent; Southeast, up 3.4 percent; East Central, up 3.7 percent; North Central, up 3.3 percent; and the South Central, up 3.5 percent.

Along with the jump in shipments, the consumption of containerboard at domestic mills shot up a strong 5.6 percent for April, compared to figures the same time last year. For this April consumption stands at 2.671 million tons.

For the first four months of the year consumption stands at slightly more than 10 million tons, a 4.3 percent jump from last year’s four-month total of 9.6 million tons.