<b>Recycled Board Production Continues Sharp Drop</b>

The production of recycled paperboard continues to post disappointing numbers as the overall paper industry shows a steady decline in demand.

According to the American Forest and Paper Association, recycled board production stands at 1.231 million tons for February, compared to last February’s figure of 1.280 million tons. The figures for the month pushed the two-month total to 2.514 million tons, a 7.9 percent drop from last year’s two-month total of 2.729 million tons.

While the figures are disappointing, total paperboard production over the first two months showed an even sharper 9.4 percent drop over the first two months of the year.

All three components of the recycled paperboard industry – linerboard, corrugated medium and boxboard – posted sharp declines for the first two months of the year. Recycled corrugated medium posted the steepest decline between the two years. According to the AFPA this year’s two-month total is down 11.4 percent from figures the same time last year. The drop was far greater than the figure for corrugated medium. For the first two months production of this commodity slipped 9.6 percent.

Recycled linerboard production also showed a fairly healthy decline over the first two months. Figures show that the two-month production total is down 8.9 percent from last year’s two-month total. In comparison, total linerboard production dipped 7.4 percent over the first two months.

The final component of the recycled board industry, boxboard, also slipped. Through the first two months of the year recycled boxboard production dropped 4.9 percent, while total boxboard production dropped 6.5 percent.