Our Friday data slice’n’dice look at the latest edition of County Business Patterns has been looking at the converting industries. As 2021 began, there were 578 establishments in NAICS 322212 (Folding Paperboard Box Manufacturing). This category saw a net decrease of 20% since 2010.
The Bureau of the Census definition for this business classification:
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in converting paperboard (except corrugated) into folding paperboard boxes without manufacturing paper and paperboard.
In this category, digital printing of folding cartons is becoming common, accompanied by laser die-cutting to handle shorter runs. The growth of small boutique and craft businesses—such as microbreweries—has been fueling demand for high-quality, shorter-run packaging materials, especially folding cartons. At the same time, ecommerce driving demand for more and newer types of cartons, and is changing demand for different sizes—for example, cartons that are shipped to consumer vs. shipped to retailer. We are also starting to see “smart packaging,” which incorporates some kind of (often) electronic functionality for tracking or security purposes.
Establishments in this category are larger than we usually see in the printing and publishing industries. Small folding paperboard manufacturers (1 to 9 employees) account for only 10% of all establishments, while large manufacturers (50+ employees) account for two-thirds of establishments.
These counts are based on data from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns. Every other week, we update these data series with the latest figures. These counts are broken down by printing business classification (based on NAICS, the North American Industrial Classification System).
Next up, we’ll continue through the converting NAICS categories:
- 322219 Other Paperboard Container Manufacturing
- 32222 Paper Bag and Coated and Treated Paper Manufacturing
- 32223 Stationery Product Manufacturing
- 32229 Other Converted Paper Product Manufacturing
- 322291 Sanitary Paper Product Manufacturing
- 322299 All Other Converted Paper Product Manufacturing
To clarify what is included in the 2021 CBP, establishment counts represent the number of locations with paid employees at any time during the year. If an establishment existed at any point during the year, it would be included in the CBP count of the number of establishments for 2021 CBP.
These data, and the overarching year-to-year trends, like other demographic data, can be used not only for business planning and forecasting, but also sales and marketing resource allocation.
This Macro Moment…
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April, and it showed that inflation has eased a bit.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment.
The index for shelter rose in April, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexes contributed over seventy percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1 percent over the month. The food index was unchanged in April. The food at home index declined 0.2 percent, while the food away from home index rose 0.3 percent over the month.
Notably, grocery prices actually declined, which is good news. Gas rose, likely because with the warmer weather, people are driving more. Hopefully, this means that inflation has been tamed at last.
