AF&PA Publishes April 2020 Paper Statistics

The total shipments of packaging papers & specialty packaging recorded an increase by 5% over the previous year.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) published paper statistics for the month of April this year.

The recent report published by the Association says that total containerboard production by the country recorded 7% year-on-year surge during April 2020. The combined production during the initial four months of the year too was up by 7% when matched with Jan-Apr ’19. The containerboard production for export has increased by 29% during the month and by 41% during the year-to-date period. The containerboard operating rate surged higher from 90.7% in April 2019 to 95.9% in April this year. The mill inventories of containerboard at the end of April this year were 28,000 short tons higher when compared to April last year, AF&PA report said.

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The total shipments of packaging papers & specialty packaging recorded an increase by 5% over the previous year. The Jan-Apr ’20 shipments were up 3% year-on-year. The operating rates too posted marginal increase to 89.1%. The mill inventories were down 3,000 short tons compared to April 2019.

The total boxboard production witnessed decline by 2% from April 2019. The boxboard operating rate edged higher by 2.3% to 96.6% over the previous year. The recycled boxboard production saw marginal dip by 1% in April this year.