<b>Corrugated Shipments, Consumption Slide for April</b>

The slowdown in the paperboard industry continues. The most recent figures from the Fibre Box Association shows total shipments for April dropped 2.3 percent to 32.603 billion square feet from figures the same time last year.

The decline for the month pushed the four-month shipment total to 127.404 billion square feet, a 5.8 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

The decline for both the month and year to date was seen in each region of the country. The biggest decliner for the month was the Northeast, which saw shipments drop 4.3 percent. Other regions and their figures for the month are the Southeast, dropping 4.1 percent; the East Central, declining 0.9 percent; the North Central, a much slimmer 0.1 percent; South Central, down 2 percent; and the West, down 1.7 percent.

For the first four months of the year the region with the largest decline was the East Central U.S., which saw shipments drop 7.6 percent. Other regions are the following: Southeast, down 7.1 percent; Northeast, down 6.7 percent; West, down 5.6 percent; South Central, down 4.1 percent; and the North Central, down 3.1 percent.

The consumption of containerboard at domestic mills also declined for both the month and first four months. The FBA reports that April shipments stand at 2.480 million tons, a 3.7 percent drop from last April. The figures for the month pushed the four-month consumption total to 9.601 million tons, a 7.3 percent drop from figures the same time last year.