Corrugated Shipments Drop for March

The shipment of corrugated products dropped by 6.1 percent for March compared to figures the same time last year. According to the Fibre Box Association, shipments for the month stand at 30.286 billion square feet, compared to last March’s figure of 32.261 billion square feet.

The figures for the month pushed the three-month shipment total to 90.742 billion square feet, a 3.9 percent decline from the first three months of last year.

All six regions of the country posted declines for the month, with the West posting the sharpest decline, 8.4 percent. A similar environment occurred for the first three months, with all six regions posting declines between last year and this year. Shipments from the West were the biggest losers over the first three months of the year, with the total down 5.4 percent from the same time last year.

Along with a decline in shipments, the consumption of containerboard at domestic plants dipped by 5.7 percent for the month. March’s consumption total stands at 2.282 million tons, compared to last March’s consumption total of 2.421 million tons.

For the first three months of the year consumption dropped 3.9 percent to 6.871 million tons, compared to last year’s Jan.-March total of 7.149 million tons.

While shipments and consumption dropped, the inventory of containerboard at plants declined for the month. At the end of March inventory stands at 2.245 million tons, a 6.9 percent drop from the previous month.

The cut in inventory levels allowed the weeks of supply on hand to decline by more than 13 percent, with the weeks of supply on hand standing at 3.9 weeks, compared to the previous month’s figure of 4.5 weeks.