AF&PA Releases June Packaging Papers Monthly Report The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) re- leased its June 2024 Packaging Papers Monthly report. Total packaging papers and specialty packaging ship- ments in June increased 7 percent compared to June 2023. They were up 10 percent when compared to the same six months of 2023. The operating rate for unbleached packaging papers was 82.9 percent, up 1.1 points from June 2023 and up 4.5 points year-to-date. Shipments of the biggest subgrade in bleached pack- aging papers – food wrapping – were 25,500 short tons for the month of June, up 6.3 percent from the same month last year and down 0.9 percent year-to-date.
They are some of our better employees; they like it here. We’ve moved some of them up into greater roles of oper- ators and supervisors.” Recently joining the three Van Allen brothers is Steve McDonald, a 43-year veteran of the corrugated industry. His resumé includes longtime positions with Commence- ment Bay Corrugated, Western Kraft, and WestRock and its predecessors. McDonald’s role is that of a general man- ager, but his card has no title on it. “He gets into everything,” Brad says. “He helps John in sales; he helps the salespeople. He’s kind of my eyes and ears out there in the plant.” He lauds McDonald’s talents in those areas important for a corrugated and setup box operation. “He’s really good with people and understanding what they want, and he does a really good job for us in purchasing, helping us get our material costs in line with where they need to be.”
The story of Northwest Paper Box is as much a family business success story as it is a story about success in the setup and corrugated box industry. Says Brad, “One of the craziest and most interesting stories about our busi- ness is the fact that we have three broth- ers working together—and have worked together—for 35 years. And there have been times we want to kill each other, sure, but each of us has our strengths.” Not surprisingly, then, each of the Van Allen brothers has his unique view of the path forward for NWPB. “We an- ticipate creating cost-savings and com- petitiveness via robotics and systems im- provements,” Brad says. Rod agrees, emphasizing the work- force. “Finding skilled people or those with an aptitude for manufacturing is a chal- lenge. We are always looking for the next ‘thing’ that will help relieve manual labor or methods to improve workflow.” John’s perspective captures both, and he weaves into NWPB’s motto of “Integrity. Service. Quality.” Says John, “Overall, we believe there is an opportunity to stand out with excellent quality and service. I honestly believe our reputation for being a stand-up company, with unquestioned integrity, has helped buyers and companies we deal with
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spread the word about NWPB in the market- place.” Steve Young is AICC’s ambassador-at-large. He can be reached at (202) 297-0583 or syoung@AICCbox.org.
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