Sept US Corrugated Box Shipments fell by 0.4%, board inventories up 42k tons
Corrugated box shipments fell to 31.23 billion ft2 in September, from this time last year. YTD box shipments are up 0.4%, but when adjusted to allow for 1 less shipping day, the result is a drop of 0.1%.
Mark Wilde of Deutsche Bank has said "Given the current macroeconomic backdrop, it could have been much worse. Inventories remain lean and operating rates remain high."
Containerboard inventories at box plants and mills increased by 42k tons to 2.259m tons. The average September increase for the last 10 years has been 9k tons, according to Chip Dillon of Vertical Research Partners.
US containerboard mill operating rates increased to 98.4% in September, an increase of 1.0% from the August operating rate, according to the American Forest & Paper Assn (AF&PA).
Posted Date: 18th Oct 2011