Corrugated Shipments Dip in November

After a brief upward swing, the shipment of corrugated products declined for November. According to the Fibre Box Association, November shipments stand at 29.010 billion square feet, a 2.8 percent drop from figures the same time last year. Despite the drop, shipment, on a weekly basis, improved by 2.6 percent, with a weekly average of 8.056 billion square feet.

The overall decline for November pushed the 11-month shipment total to 246.969 billion square feet, a 1 percent drop from shipment totals the same time last year.

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Posting the sharpest decline was the Southeast, which saw shipments plummet by 7 percent for the month. Other regions posting declines were the Northeast, down 3.9 percent; the North Central, down 2.9 percent; the East Central, down 2 percent; and the South Central, down 1.4 percent.

The Western U.S. was the one region posting an improvement for the month. Shipments in this area improved by 0.4 percent.

For the first 11 months shipments by region were mixed. The Southeast saw shipments drop by 3.3 percent, the largest decline by region. Meanwhile, the Western U.S. saw the best shipment improvement, up 1.1 percent.

While shipments declined, overall containerboard consumption posted a modest 0.3 percent decline. For November, consumption stands at 2.241 million tons, compared to 2002’s November total of 2.247 million tons. For the first 11 months containerboard consumption stands at 26.667 million tons, a 0.6 percent drop from figures the same time in 2002.

Along with shipment and consumption declines, the inventory of containerboard at corrugator plants dropped by 5.3 percent at the end of November from inventory levels the previous month. Total inventory at the end of November stands at 2.155 million tons. The decline in inventory helped drop the weekly of supply on hand to 3.5 weeks, a 7.9 percent decline from inventory levels the previous month.