Corrugated Shipments Decline for February

The shipment of corrugated products declined by 1.5 percent for February to 28.864 billion square feet, according to the Fibre Box Association. The decline for the month pushed the two-month shipment total to 60.455 billion square feet, a 2.7 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

While total shipments declined, regional reports were mixed. The East Central United States reported a modest 0.3 percent improvement for the month, while the North Central region saw shipments unchanged between last February and this February.

The regions posting the sharpest declines were the Northeast and the South Central U.S., which both posted declines of 3.2 percent for February.

Along with an overall decline in shipments, the consumption of containerboard at domestic plants dropped by 3.5 percent for February. The figure for the month stands at 2.137 million tons, compared to last February’s figure of 2.214 million tons.

For the first two months the consumption figure stands at 4.589 million tons, a 2.9 percent drop from the same time last year.

While shipments and consumption declined, corrugator plants were able to reduce their inventory levels. For February, the inventory level stands at 2.41 million tons, a 3.2 percent decrease from the previous month. Despite the drop, the weeks of supply on hand held t 4.5 weeks.