U.S. Packaging Paper Exports Witnessed 3.3% Decline in February

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. Packaging Papers & Specialty Packaging monthly report for February 2019 indicates that the country’s total packaging paper shipments declined marginally by 3.3% over the previous year. The year-to-date shipments remained flat when compared with 2018.

The inventories registered 3.4% decline over the same month last year, whereas the operating rate declined from 91.3% in January to 89.5% in February this year. As per data, the bag & sack shipments dropped marginally by 2.0% during the year-to-date period. Multiwall shipments and food wrapping shipments were up by 4.4% and 0.96% respectively. On the contrary, converting shipments were down marginally by 0.6% over the previous year.

The monthly U.S. boxboard production registered a decline of 0.8% when compared to February 2018. The operating rate stood at 97.4% during the month. The year-to-date recycled boxboard production was up by 2.6%.

The containerboard production was down by 1.8% year-on-year in February 2019. The containerboard operating rate too declined sharply from 95.7% in February 2018 to 89.5% in February this year. The production for export nosedived by nearly 30% than Feb ’18. The average daily production witnessed a decline of 3.8%.

The total printing-writing paper shipments were down 7% in February 2019, as compared with the same month a year before. The inventory levels have declined by 1% from the prior month. The U.S. shipments of uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper registered 6% decline from February last year.