You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: Again, I'm Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO of PCA.
And with me on the call today is Tom Hassfurther, Executive Vice President, who runs the Packaging business; and Bob Mundy, our Chief Financial Officer.
Without a doubt, these may be the most unpredictable and unprecedented times that hopefully we will ever encounter.
There is no reference manual for managing through a public health crisis with severe economic ramifications, such as what has occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our routines, habits, personal preferences, work and social activity and many other aspects of our lives are sure to change forever as a result of this.
PCA's operations qualify as an essential or critical element under the various state and local shelter-in-place orders.
Our leadership team is in constant communication discussing safety, the state of our operations, business continuity and other critical management topics.
It is our responsibility at PCA to ensure that, first and foremost, we help provide for the well-being of our more than 15,000 employees and their families.
We must do everything in our power to assist our customers and suppliers as well.
We have implemented various procedures and safeguards at all our manufacturing, converting and office locations across the country to help keep our employees safe and healthy as we provide the goods and services considered essential for assisting with our country's response to the pandemic.
We have also put measures in place to assist them with the economic ramifications that have resulted from these response measures.
To date, we have not experienced any significant interruptions at our operations or in our supply chain due to the virus.
Our network of mills, converting facilities and distribution operations strategically located throughout the United States gives PCA asset flexibility to manufacture and ship products to multiple locations.
We will continue to closely monitor developments, take proactive measures to protect our employees, and provide our customers with the products and services they require.
I could not be more proud of the effort, responsiveness and sacrifices displayed by all PCA employees as well as our customers and suppliers.
It has truly been an inspiring observation.
I'll then wrap things up, and we'll be glad to take some questions.
Yesterday, we reported first quarter net income of $142 million or $1.49 per share.
First quarter net income included special items expenses of $0.01 per share, related primarily to costs and expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Excluding special items, first quarter 2020 net income was $143 million or $1.50 per share compared to the first quarter of 2019 net income of $187 million or $1.98 per share.
First quarter net sales were $1.7 billion in both 2020 and 2019.
Total company EBITDA for the first quarter, excluding special items, was $311 million in 2020 and $371 million in 2019.
Excluding special items, the $0.48 per share decrease in first quarter 2020 earnings compared to the first quarter of 2019 was driven primarily by lower prices and mix in our Packaging segment of $0.64 and Paper segment of $0.05; lower volumes in our Paper segment of $0.03; higher annual outage expenses, $0.04; higher depreciation expense, $0.04; other expenses, $0.01; and higher tax rate, $0.01.
The items were partially offset by higher volumes in our Packaging segment of $0.14; lower operating costs of $0.09; lower converting costs, $0.04; lower freight and logistics costs, $0.01; and lower interest expense, $0.04; and nonoperating pension expense, $0.02.
The results were $0.30 above the first quarter guidance of $1.20 per share, primarily due to higher volumes in our Packaging segment of $0.03 and our Paper segment of $0.01, higher prices and mix in the Packaging segment of $0.02 and lower operating costs of $0.15, resulting from the excellent fiber and energy usage and lower input prices in our mills.
Freight and logistics costs were lower than expected by $0.03, as were converting costs, annual outage costs and other expenses, each lower than expectations by $0.02 per share.
Looking at our Packaging business.
EBITDA, excluding special items in the first quarter of 2020 of $290 million with sales of $1.5 billion resulted in a margin of 20% versus last year's EBITDA of $334 million and sales of $1.5 billion or a 23% margin.
Our containerboard mills established a new first quarter volume record, even while performing scheduled annual maintenance outage work at four of the mills.
Our containerboard production allowed us to maintain our industry-leading integration rate of approximately 95% by supplying the necessary containerboard to our box plants, who achieved an all-time record for total box shipments as well as a new first quarter shipments per day record.
We were able to meet this greater-than-anticipated demand through proactive management, changing the sequencing of our scheduled maintenance outages as well as outstanding execution of the work performed during these outages.
Our enhanced capabilities to optimize the mix, freight and logistics costs, inventory levels and internal and external customer needs of the customer of the containerboard system provided to us by our machine conversion at Wallula Mill were a key component as well.
We ended the quarter with containerboard inventories at their lowest levels since the acquisition of Boise's packaging business in 2013.
Corrugated products and containerboard demand were very strong during the quarter.
As Mark indicated, our corrugated products plants achieved a new all-time record for total box shipments, which were up 5.6% over last year as well as a new first quarter record in shipments per day, which were up 3.9% compared to last year's first quarter.
Outside sales volume of containerboard was 13% above last year's first quarter, primarily attributable to increased domestic demand with export demand slightly higher as well.
Domestic containerboard and corrugated products prices and mix together were $0.54 per share below the first quarter of 2019 and down $0.06 per share compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
Export containerboard prices were down about $0.10 per share versus last year's first quarter and flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
Looking at our Paper segment.
EBITDA, excluding special items in the first quarter of $42 million with sales of $217 million or 19% margin compared to the first quarter of 2019 EBITDA of $55 million and sales of $240 million or 23% margin.
First quarter paper prices and mix were below last year as expected, however, they were flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
Our Paper volume was also lower as expected, primarily due to the scheduled maintenance outage at our Jackson, Alabama mill; however, it was about 3% higher than we had assumed.
Although we ended the quarter with our inventory slightly lower than planned, on April 1, we announced downtime at our Jackson, Alabama mill for the months of May and June to ensure we manage the supply according to our demand outlook for the second quarter.
Throughout the quarter, the mills did an outstanding job, managing fiber and chemical usage and maintained tight control over indirect and fixed expenses.
We had record first quarter cash generation with cash provided by operations of $237 million and record first quarter free cash flow of $166 million.
The primary uses of cash during the quarter included capital expenditures of $71 million and common stock dividends of $75 million.
We ended the quarter with $764 million of cash on hand or $913 million, including the cash we recently moved to marketable securities.
Our liquidity at March 31 of over $1.2 billion is the highest ever for our company.
And with the refinancing we completed in the fourth quarter of 2019, we have no debt maturities for the next 3.5 years.
Regarding our announcement of taking our paper mill in Jackson, Alabama down for the months of May and June, our estimated second quarter financial impact of this decision is approximately $30 million or $0.24 per share.
I want to update you on our full year guidance for certain items that we provided on last quarter's call.
As Mark alluded to earlier, we managed through a very strong first quarter demand in our Packaging business, partly by altering the sequencing of the scheduled maintenance outages at our containerboard mills as well as the containerboard machines impacted versus what we discussed during last quarter's call.
There are no changes to the scheduled outages at our white paper mills.
The actual impact in the first quarter was $0.22 per share, and the estimated impact by quarter for the remainder of the year is now $0.09 per share in the second quarter, $0.16 in the third and $0.34 per share in the fourth quarter.
The full year estimate remains at $0.81 per share, as we mentioned previously.
Also, our full year interest expense is now expected to be $88 million versus $81 million.
And our net cash interest is now estimated to be $92 million versus $84 million, primarily due to lower expected interest income.
Our cash tax rate estimate is now slightly lower than our earlier estimate of 19%, partially due to the downtime we announced at our Jackson mill, and our effective tax rate remains at approximately 25%.
After a thorough review of our capital spending plans, we are not changing the range of spending we provided previously, which was between $400 million to $425 million, nor are we changing our full year outlook for pension contributions or depreciation.
As I mentioned earlier, these may be the most unpredictable and unprecedented times that hopefully we will ever encounter.
Not a day passes that we realize something new being impacted in a way we had never thought of or imagined of before.
Our consistent approach toward prudent capital allocation and sound financial governance has served us well for many, many years and is certainly helpful in times like this.
PCA entered this uncertain period of time brought on by the COVID-19 crisis from a position of financial and balance sheet strength.
Our focus has been and will remain on preserving that strength through the actions and decisions we make as a management team.
As Bob mentioned, our company's liquidity position has never been higher nor has our confidence in the future success of PCA.
We are well positioned to manage through whatever lies ahead, while ensuring we take care of the needs and expectations of our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.
However, the confidence does not translate to the same degree short-term predictability or guidance specifics that we normally provide at this time.
However, due to the uncertain scope and duration of the pandemic and the timing of the global recovery and economic normalization, we're not able to properly quantify our guidance for the second quarter.
We've already announced the actions being taken in our Paper business, and we believe these actions will position us properly for what we anticipate right now for the second half of 2020.
However, nothing is certain, especially now, and it may require further action to be taken.
We know that we experienced a demand surge in our Packaging business in the first quarter, and the second quarter has also begun quite strong as well.
Our containerboard inventory is at the lowest levels, both in total and in weeks of supply since our acquisition of the Packaging business from Boise.
And while recycled fiber prices began moving significantly higher during the first quarter, our position as a primarily virgin fiber producer minimizes its impact compared to other producers.
However, it only makes logical sense that demand in certain end markets will return to more normal growth trends at some point, although we've been successful at securing new business in end markets with a stronger demand outlook versus markets whose demand may be impacted more negatively.
Also, it is impossible to predict what additional health-related measures will be or must be taken or dictated to us by the various state and local governments where we operate.
Such events and actions could adversely impact the operation of not only our facilities, but also the availability of services and products we rely upon from our suppliers.
That being said, it is also a fact that the products our company provides are essential to the response efforts, the recovery and the well-being of our country.
The needs for our cost-effective, sustainable and renewable products will continue.
While no one knows the severity or longevity of the virus' impact on global economy, it is my belief that this need will be even more in demand as the world recovers from this crisis.
The statements were based on current estimates, expectations and projections of the company, and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including the direction of the economy and those identified as risk factors in our annual report on Form 10-K on file with the SEC.

user
q1 earnings per share $1.50 excluding items.
q1 earnings per share $1.49.
q1 sales $1.7 billion versus refinitiv ibes estimate of $1.66 billion.
strong demand in our packaging segment drove q1 results.
due to uncertain scope and duration of pandemic , we are not able to properly quantify our guidance for q2.

assistant