U.S. Packaging Paper Exports Recorded Significant Surge in June

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) has published the production and export statistics for the month of June this year.

The total shipments of packaging paper surged higher by 4.4% in June 2018 over the previous year. The shipments during Jan-Apr ’18 were up marginally by 0.6%. The year-to-date bag and sack shipments remained essentially flat. Multiwall shipments were down by 1.3%. On the other hand, converting shipments and food-wrapping shipments were up by 0.7% and 3.6% respectively.

The June ’18 containerboard production was up by 2% when compared with the same month a year before. The year-to-date containerboard production was up marginally by 1% over 2017. The containerboard operating rate was up by 0.2 percentage points to 96.8% in June. The production for export was up significantly by 7.1% over the previous year. The year-to-date export production declined by 3.5% year-on-year.

The total boxboard production has increased by 3.6% upon comparison with June last year. However, the production was down by 3.1% from the prior month. The unbleached kraft boxboard, solid bleached boxboard and liner production recorded notable increase when compared with the previous year, but decreased when compared with May 2018. All boxboard sectors reported higher operating rates during the initial six months of 2018.

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According to the June ’18 printing-writing paper report published by the AF&PA, the total printing-writing paper shipments declined sharply by 6% from June 2017 level. The total inventory levels have declined further by 2%. The shipments of uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper remained essentially flat during the first six months of the current year. The imports of coated free sheet (CFS) registered marginal drop in June 2018. The coated mechanical (CM) paper purchases too declined during the month.