Board Converting News, October 19, 2020

NAM: Seven Of Top Ten Export Markets Grew In September

Box Shipments ( U.S. Corrugated Product Shipments) Industry Shipments In Billions of Square Feet Month August 2020

According to Chad Moutray, Ph.D. and Chief Economist at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI expanded in Septem- ber at the fastest pace in 25 months. In September, seven of the top 10 markets for U.S. man- ufactured goods had expanding manufacturing sectors, up from six in August and just one (China) in May. As such, these major trading partners have continued to improve after plummeting in April to levels that were either the worst since the Great Recession or at record lows. The World Trade Organization (WTO) predicts that global trade volumes could fall 9.2 percent in 2020, an improvement from the previous estimate of a 12.9 percent decrease this year. WTO predicts that global trade should rebound, rising by 7.2 percent in 2021. The U.S. trade deficit rose to the highest level since August 2006, with goods imports rising faster than the in- crease in goods exports. The goods trade deficit rose to a new record. At the same time, the service-sector trade surplus dropped to its lowest level since January 2012. In non-seasonally adjusted data, U.S. manufactured goods exports totaled $622.72 billion through the first eight months of 2020, dropping 17.31 percent from $753.07 billion for the same time frame in 2019.

Year

Actual

Percent Change Avg Week Percent Change

2020 2019

34.285 34.495

-0.6

8.163 7.840

4.1

Industry Total

Year-to Date

August 2020

Year

Actual

Percent Change Avg Week Percent Change

2020 2019

265.688 262.164

1.3

7.814 7.756

0.7

Industry Total

Containerboard Consumption (Thousands of Tons)

Year

Month

Percent Change Year-to-Date Percent Change

2020 2019

2.8061 2.8427

-1.3

21.7415 21.5716

0.8

Container Board Inventory - Corrugator Plants (Thousands of Tons)

Corrugator Plants Only

Date

Percent Change Weeks of Supply

Percent Change

Aug.

1.9155 2.0214

-5.2

2.9 3.2

-9.4

Jul.

Shipping Days

Year

Month

Year-to-Date

2020 2019

21 22

170 169

SOURCE: Fibre Box Association

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October 19, 2020

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