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U. S. production of paper and paperboard rose 1.2% for the nine months through September compared with the year-ago period. Paper production rose 1.5% and paperboard was up 0.9%. Total paper and board volume was 72.1 million tons through September 1999.
Canadian production of paper and board stood at 15.0 million mtons for the nine months, an increase of 6.9% over 1998. Newsprint, printing/writing paper and the board grades all showed gains.
Through September, U.S. newsprint shipments were down 2.2% compared with the 1998 period, reflecting reduced volumes going to both domestic and overseas markets, the American Forest & Paper Assn. (AF&PA) said.
Fiber box shipments, a key barometer of domestic containerboard demand, rose 1.6% through the first nine months. Containerboard inventories at box plans and mills measured 4.3 weeks of supply at the end of September, down from 5.0 weeks of supply 12 months earlier, the AF&PA said. Boxboard production rose 2.6% through September compared with last year.
U.S. pulp production in September fell 3.0% from September 1998. Market pulp shipments for the nine months rose 3.6% to 6.2 million tons.
|
| |
Latest month (000 short tons) |
% change from year ago |
Annualized year-to-date (000 short tons) |
% change from year ago |
 |
| Newsprint |
September |
600 |
0.2%% |
5,318 |
–2.2% |
| Uncoated groundwood (s) |
September |
174 |
–3.3 |
1,468 |
–3.1 |
| Coated paper (s) |
September |
858 |
5.9 |
7,144 |
1.7 |
| Uncoated free-sheet 7 |
September |
1,197 |
4.5 |
10,450 |
2.9 |
| Other printing/writing 7 |
September |
133 |
–2.2 |
1,164 |
0.4 |
| Total packaging and other paper |
September |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| Tissue |
September |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| Total paper |
September |
3,921 |
3.5% |
34,005 |
1.5% |
| Unbleached kraft paperboard |
September |
1,860 |
0.7 |
17,359 |
–2.5 |
| Semichemical medium |
September |
461 |
2.2 |
4,343 |
–2.3 |
| Bleached paperboard |
September |
465 |
2.0 |
4,271 |
1.9 |
| Recycled paperboard |
September |
1,370 |
8.1 |
12,183 |
7.0 |
| Total paperboard |
September |
4,156 |
3.4% |
38,170 |
0.9% |
| Total paper and paperboard 5 |
September |
8,078 |
3.5% |
72,163 |
1.2% |
|
 |
| Total woodpulp production |
September |
5,098 |
–0.4% |
46,988 |
–3.2% |
| Market pulp production |
September |
656 |
2.2 |
6,132 |
0.3 |
| Wastepaper consumption at paper/board mills |
September |
3,054 |
–1.9 |
27,712 |
0.6 |
 |
| Corrugated box shipments (billion ft2)6 |
September |
33 |
–0.2% |
301 |
1.8% |
| Containerboard inventories at mills/plants(actual) |
September |
2,665 |
–9.8 |
|
|
 |
| U.S. paper imports (including products) |
August |
1,581 |
14.3% |
11,739 |
–5.4% |
| Imports of Canadian newsprint |
August |
622 |
20.8 |
4,603 |
–7.5 |
| U.S. paper exports (including products) |
August |
954 |
–0.5 |
7,862 |
–16.5 |
| Exports of unbleached kraft liner |
August |
228 |
–10.6 |
2,202 |
–24.1 |
| Exports of woodpulp |
August |
459 |
–3.2 |
3,865 |
–8.5 |
 |
| Total newsprint shipments 6 (mtons) |
September |
772 |
22.5% |
6,804 |
5.8% |
| Operating rates, % |
September |
90 |
12.5 |
93 |
5.7 |
| Inventories held by U.S. consumers 6 |
September |
1,386 |
0.6 |
|
|
| Woodpulp shipments 6 |
September |
1,006 |
15.5 |
8,028 |
10.6 |
| Operating rates, % |
September |
97 |
15.5 |
94 |
10.6 |
 |
| (s) = Shipments. n.a. = not available. 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. 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. |
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