The signs of global economic weakness are multiplying (sharp recent slowdowns in retailers’ sales trends, falling monthly retail sales, numerous trucking company bankruptcies, cycle-low truckload spot rates, rising credit card and auto loan delinquency ratios, major corporate layoff announcements, etc.) and the global pulp and paper industry is no exception.
We wrote last week of continued poor box demand trends in the U.S. into April, bearing in mind that box demand is among the best economic...