PPC Says 2007 Shows Recovery in Carton Shipments

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) released results on folding carton shipments for the first half of 2007. Shipments this year are down from the first half of 2006, according to the PPC, but only slightly at minus 0.85 percent on dollar volume and minus 1.94 percent on tonnage.

The outlook for 2007 could be brighter after a slow start to the year. Year-to-date shipments have slowly but steadily improved over a soft fourth quarter 2006. Inventories have risen in June by 18.2 percent compared to May levels, which appears to indicate that the third quarter will follow the traditional pattern of being the year’s best quarter for volume.