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JULY 1997 · Volume 71, Issue 7
Month in Statistics
U.S. production of paper and paperboard (seasonally unadjusted) in the first quarter of 1997 rose 8.4% over the same period last year, according to the American Forest & Paper Assn. Paper production for the three months was 11.078 million tons, 9.3% higher than the 1996 period, and paperboard gained 7.5% with a total of 12.269 million tons for the quarter.
Among major grades (on an annualized year-to-date basis) coated paper shipments were up 21.3% in March from a year ago, newsprint production rose 3.8%, and tissue was up 2.2%. Most grades continued to rise in March, but unbleached kraft liner fell 2.1% over March 1996. Total packaging and other papers were up 4.6% when compared with last year. Both U.S. market pulp and total woodpulp production were up from last year, 4.5% and 2.5%, respectively. Consumption of recovered paper at U.S. mills reached 2.9 million tons, up 3.8% from a year ago.
Canadian newsprint shipments totaled 569,000 tons in March, down 6.2% from March 1996, and down 4.3% from February 1997. Newsprint mills operated at 98% of capacity. Canadian woodpulp shipments were up 29.8% from March 1996 and reached 2.6 million m. tons for the year-to-date, with mills operating at 93% of capacity in March.
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% change |
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Annualized |
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% change |
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Latest month |
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from |
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year-to-date |
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from |
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(000 short tons) |
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year ago |
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(000 short tons) |
|
year ago |
| PAPER AND PAPERBOARD PRODUCTION1 |
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| Newsprint |
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Mar. |
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626 |
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-5.2 |
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7,215 |
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3.8 |
| Uncoated groundwood (s) |
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Mar. |
|
178 |
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7.9 |
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1,978 |
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5.1 |
| Coated paper (s) |
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Mar. |
|
804 |
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29.1 |
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8,950 |
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21.3 |
| Uncoated free-sheet 7 |
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Mar. |
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1,202 |
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9.5 |
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13,874 |
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11.3 |
| Other printing/writing 7 |
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Mar. |
|
127 |
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-2.3 |
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1,504 |
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-9.8 |
| Total packaging and other paper |
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Mar. |
|
369 |
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3.1 |
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4,464 |
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4.6 |
| Tissue |
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Mar. |
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542 |
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3.8 |
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6,327 |
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2.2 |
| Total paper |
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Mar. |
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3,848 |
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10.2 |
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44,311 |
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9.3 |
| Unbleached kraft paperboard |
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Mar. |
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1,929 |
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7.9 |
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22,634 |
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4.9 |
| Semichemical medium |
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Mar. |
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503 |
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13.3 |
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5,929 |
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15.0 |
| Bleached paperboard |
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Mar. |
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484 |
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8.0 |
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5,479 |
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8.2 |
| Recycled paperboard |
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Mar. |
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1,265 |
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5.0 |
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15,035 |
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8.6 |
| Total paperboard |
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Mar. |
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4,181 |
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7.7 |
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49,077 |
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7.5 |
| Total paper and paperboard 5 |
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Mar. |
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8,029 |
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8.9 |
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93,389 |
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8.4 |
| PULP, WASTEPAPER, AND FIBER2 |
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| Total woodpulp production |
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Mar. |
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5,485 |
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5.0 |
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64,545 |
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2.5 |
| Market pulp production |
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Mar. |
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660 |
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3.9 |
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8,285 |
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4.5 |
| Wastepaper consumption |
| at paper/board mills |
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Mar. |
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2,867 |
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5.5 |
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n.a. |
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3.8 |
| CONVERTED PRODUCTS STATISTICS3 |
| Corrugated box shipments (billion ft2) 6 |
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Mar. |
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31.176 |
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-4.1 |
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93.220 |
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52.5 |
| Containerboard inventories at mills/plants |
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Mar. 31 |
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3.007 |
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-0.1 |
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- |
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- |
| INTERNATIONAL TRADE2 |
| U.S. paper imports (including products) |
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Feb. |
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1,152 |
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-3.8 |
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14,177 |
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-0.1 |
| Imports of Canadian newsprint |
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Feb. |
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569 |
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-4.4 |
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6,986 |
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-6.2 |
| U.S. paper exports (including products) |
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Feb. |
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1,088 |
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11.4 |
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12,882 |
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23.8 |
| Exports of unbleached kraft liner |
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Feb. |
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361 |
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20.3 |
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4,161 |
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43.0 |
| Exports of woodpulp |
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Mar. |
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531 |
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5.8 |
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6,038 |
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-0.8 |
| Exports of unbleached kraft liner |
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Jan. |
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333 |
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53.5 |
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3,993 |
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53.1 |
| CANADIAN STATISTICS4 |
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| Total newsprint shipments 6 |
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Mar. |
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838 |
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12.5 |
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2,365 |
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9.7 |
| Operating rates, % |
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Mar. |
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98 |
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93 |
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96 |
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96 |
| Inventories held by U.S. consumers 6 |
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Mar. 31 |
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753 |
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-39.3 |
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- |
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- |
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| Woodpulp shipments 6 |
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Mar. |
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946 |
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29.8 |
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2,560 |
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24.5 |
| Operating rates, % |
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Mar. |
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93 |
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85 |
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94 |
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89 |
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1. American Forest & Paper Assn. 2. AF&PA, Bureau of Census, American Pulpwood Assn. 3. Fibre Box Assn., Paperboard Packaging Council. 4. Canadian Pulp and Paper Assn. 5. Includes construction and wet machine grades. 6. Not annualized. (s) = Shipments.
7. Categories have been revised: thin papers, previously included under the "other printing/writing" category, is now part of uncoated free-sheet. "Other printing/writing" now encompasses only bristols and cotton fiber papers. n.a = not available.
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