AF&PA Reports Corrugated Growth

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has released its quarterly reports for both containerboard and boxboard for the second quarter of 2022. At press time, these were the most recent reports available.

According to the information released, total containerboard production in Q2 increased 2 percent compared to Q2 2021. It was also up 2 percent when compared to the same six months of 2021. This follows a trend established by the Q1 quarterly report, which also reported a 2 percent increase compared to Q1 2021. Other statistics released are:

• New supply of containerboard (domestic production plus imports) was essentially flat compared to Q2 2021, as well as year-to-date.
• The linerboard operating rate in Q2 was 94.3 percent, up 1.5 points from the previous quarter.
• The medium operating rate for the quarter was 96 percent, down 0.6 points from Q1 2022.
• As noted in the previous quarterly report, Q1 2022 production of containerboard for export increased nine percent compared to the same quarter last year. (Q2 statistics for containerboard for export were not released, but are available in the full report.)

In Q2 2022, total boxboard production increased 1 percent compared to Q2 2021. It was up 2 percent when compared to the same six months of 2021. This represents a slowdown in comparison with released statistics from AF&PA’s 2022 Q1 report, which noted that total boxboard production in Q1 increased 2 percent compared to Q1 2021. In addition, the boxboard operating rate for Q2 was 95.3 percent, down 1.2 points from Q2 of 2021 and essentially flat (+0.3 pts.) year-to-date. Other statistics released from the Q2 report are:

• Solid Bl. Folding – Domestic production increased 8 percent compared to Q2 2021 and was up 11 percent when compared to the same six months of 2021.
• Recycled Boxboard – Coated production increased 13 percent compared to Q2 2021 and was up 11 percent when compared to the same six months of 2021.
• Uncoated Recycled – unmade orders were essentially flat (0.0 percent) compared to the previous month and decreased 1 percent compared to June 2021.

The complete AF&PA reports, with detailed tables, charts and historical data, can be purchased by contacting Kory Bockman at [email protected].