Month in Statistics

U.S. production of paper and paperboard (seasonally unadjusted) during the first half of 1997 rose 6.6% over the same period last year, according to the American Forest & Paper Assn. Paper production for the six months was 22.191 million tons, 7.2% higher than the 1996 period, and paperboard gained 6.1% with a total of 24.576 million tons for the first half of 1997.

Among major grades (on a year-to-date basis) coated paper shipments were up 20.4% from a year ago, newsprint production rose 5%, and tissue was up 2.9%. Most grades continued to rise and for the six months, unbleached kraft liner rose 5.1% and total packaging and other papers were up 2.6% when compared with last year. Both U.S. market woodpulp and total woodpulp production were up in June compared with the same month last year, 4.1% and 2.1%, respectively. Consumption of recovered paper at U.S. mills for first-half 1997 was just under 3 million tons, up 4.5% from the year-ago period.

Canadian newsprint shipments totaled 617,000 tons in June, up 1.5% from June 1996, and up 8.6% from April 1997. Newsprint mills operated at 95%
of capacity. Canadian woodpulp shipments were down 6.9% from June 1996 and reached 5.3 million metric tons for the year-to-date, with mills operating at 98% of capacity in June.