While the overall paperboard industry is showing some modest strengthening, the production of recycled paperboard continues to languish, with the figures the first eight months of this year down more than 5 percent from figures during the same time last year.
The decline in recycled paperboard comes while other paperboard sectors are starting to show some modest improvements from last year. While overall paperboard production declined by 0.5 percent over the first eight months, with the exception of recycled paperboard, other paperboard sectors posted improvements. Leading the way is semichemical paperboard, which improved by 3.7 percent; bleached paperboard, up 2.6 percent; and unbleached kraft paperboard, up 1.4 percent.
All three sections of the recycled board industry posted declines between last year and this year. The biggest loser, recycled corrugated medium, posted a production decline of 13.3 percent between last year and this year. While recycled medium dropped, semichemical medium, the other component of the corrugated medium business, posted a strong 8.2 percent jump in production between last year and this year.
For August, the most recently reported month, recycled medium production is 306,000 tons, bringing the annual rate, year to date, to 3.682 million tons.
Recycled linerboard production also posted disappointing numbers for the month. For August, recycled linerboard production stands at 311,000 tons, resulting in an eight-month production figure down 7.7 percent from figures the same time last year.
The slide in recycled linerboard resulted in an overall 0.7 percent decline in the production of linerboard through the first eight months of this year.
Recycled boxboard, the most mature segment for the recycled paperboard industry, also posted a decline between last year and this year. For August, production stands at 212,000 tons, essentially unchanged from the previous month. However, the recycled boxboard production is down 1.8 percent from last year’s total.
At the same time, total boxboard production stands at 14.715 million tons on an annual rate, year to date. This figure is a 1.6 percent increase from figures the same time last year.