North American containerboard demand showed improvement in January, increasing 1.2% over January 2003. Production i…
North American containerboard demand showed improvement in January, increasing 1.2% over January 2003. Production increased by 89,000 tonnes, or 3.3%.
Mills operated at 92% capacity, up from 88% a year ago. Inventories held at North American mills and box plants totaled 2.6 million tonnes at the end of January — an increase of 157,000 tonnes over the previous month.
January marked the first month since December 2002 where North American kraft paper demand is growing, up 0.7% compared to January 2003. Production was lower than 2003 levels for the month, down 3.1%. As a result, producers operated at 84% capacity in January, down from 88% reached at the same month last year. Inventories increased by 2,000 tonnes compared to December, however they are down 21,000 tonnes compared to January 2003.
Boxboard demand in North America declined slightly last January, down 0.4%, while production remained unchanged compared to the same month last year. Mills operated at 84% capacity, a one-point decrease over the 85% registered in January
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