U.S. Containerboard Inventories fell again in March, according to Wilde, though not by as much as they usually do. Combined mill and box plant inventories fell 40,000 tons m/m. "Looking over the past 10 years, inventories typically fall by an average of 86,000 tons m/m in March, suggesting that this year's decline was 46,000 tons less than typical. However, inventories started the month this year at a much lower-than-typical level. Total inventories now stand at 2.08 million tons, near the low end of a normal historical range. Since we still have three more months of typical seasonal declines (by an aggregate amount of 100,000 tons), we could see inventories getting extremely tight by the middle of the year. Strong export demand and tight fiber supplies at many mills also point in the same direction," Wilde points out.
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