Corrugated Shipments Dip in August

FBA reports softening shipment, consumption figures for most recently reported month.

The shipment of corrugated products dipped by 0.1 percent for August, compared to figures the same time last year. For the month, total shipments stand at 32.728 billion square feet, pushing the eight-month total to 253.069 billion square feet, a 1 percent decline from figures the same time last year.

While overall shipments declined for both the month and first eight months, the figures on a region-by-region basis were mixed. The Northeastern United States saw the biggest loss for both the month and first eight months. For August, the region saw shipments drop by 2.4 percent, while shipments over the first eight months declined 3.7 percent, compared to figures the same time last year.

The other region posting a sharp drop for both the month and first eight months is the South Central, which saw shipments drop by 2 percent for August, and by 1.9 percent the first eight months.

The Southeastern U.S. posted the sharpest improvement for the month, according to the Fibre Box Association. For August, shipments jumped 2.8 percent. Other gainers for the month include the West, which saw shipments climb 1.1 percent; and the East Central U.S., which reported a 0.7 percent increase in shipments for the month.

While total shipments dipped for the first eight months, there were areas reporting an improvement. The East Central U.S. reported a 0.4 percent increase between last year and this year; the North Central U.S. reported shipments climbing 0.3 percent; and the Southeast reported shipments climbing 0.1 percent between last year and this year.

Along with the decline in shipments, the consumption of containerboard during the month declined. The FBA reported that 2.492 million tons of containerboard were consumed for August, a 1.4 percent drop from figures the same time last year. For the first eight months consumption is down 0.8 percent to 19.347 million tons.

While consumption declined, the inventory in corrugator plants dropped by 0.6 percent to 2.322 million tons from figures the previous month. Despite the decline, the weeks of supply on hand increased by 5.1 percent to 4.1 weeks of supply on hand.