magazines
  April 2003 - Month in Statistics

U.S. PAPER AND BOARD PRODUCTION

Total U.S. paperboard production in December of 3.7 million tons was 3.0% higher than December of 2001, according to statistics from the American Forest & Paper Assn. (AF&PA).

U.S. paperboard production totaled 47.7 million tons for the year. Year-to-date through December 2002, total board production increased 2.0%, according to the AF&PA.

U.S. market pulp production decreased 9.2% on a year-over-year basis in December to 697,000 tons.

Imports of newsprint from Canada totaled 561,000 tonnes in November, up 2.0% from 2001, according to the AF&PA.

U.S. uncoated free-sheet production was 1.0 million tons in December, up 2.5% from year-ago figures. Coated paper production increased to 742,000 tons in December, up 15.8% from year-ago figures.
MONTH IN STATISTICS
    Latest month (000 short tons) % change from year ago Annualized year-to-date (000 short tons) % change from year ago
PAPER AND PAPERBOARD PRODUCTION1
Newsprint December 478 3.7% 5,785 –9.1%
Uncoated groundwood (s) December n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Coated paper (s) December 742 15.8 8,940 0.6
Uncoated free-sheet 7 December 1,001 2.5 12,486 –1.3
Other printing/writing 7 December 103 5.1 1,359 –1.4
Total packaging and other paper December 333 –0.6 4,100 –4.4
Tissue December 614 8.9 7,107 1.2
Total paper December n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Unbleached kraft paperboard December 1,736 5.5 21,123 3.4
Unbleached kraft linerboard December 1,219 7.0 15,041 -3.4
Semichemical medium December 466 2.9 5,837 4.6
Bleached paperboard December 442 -2.0 5,293 –0.1
Recycled paperboard December 1,103 –1.0 15,493 0.0
Total paperboard December 3,738 3.0 47,745 2.0
Total paper and paperboard 5 December n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
PULP, WASTEPAPER, AND FIBER2
Total woodpulp production December 4,868 2.4 58,066 0.0
Market pulp production December 697 –9.2 8,469 3.6
Wastepaper consumption at paper/board mills December 2,687 -0.2 35,012 –0.6
CONVERTED PRODUCTS STATISTICS3
Corrugated box shipments (billion ft2) 6 December 28.809 1.2 379.449 0.0
Containerboard inventories at mills/plants(actual) December 2,867 4.2 n.a. n.a.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE2
U.S. paper imports (including products)* November 1,654 6.2 16,951 –8.7
Imports of Canadian newsprint* November 561 2.0 6,128 0.5
U.S. paper exports (including products)* November 945 –1.6 10,004 –12.2
Exports of unbleached kraft liner** November 244 –15.3 2,526 –15.3
Exports of woodpulp* December 431 –15.2 5,923 13.8
CANADIAN STATISTICS4 (reported in metric tons)
Total newsprint shipments 6 (metric tons) December 742 13.3 8,492 1.4
Operating rates, % December 91 18.2 91 1.1
Inventories held by U.S. consumers 6 December 924 0.9 n.a. n.a.
Woodpulp shipments 6 November 894 8.6 9,606 2.2
Operating rates, % November 93 -5.1 90 3.4
(s) = Shipments. n.a. = not available. *According to the AF&PA, the harmonized code definitions for import/export data have been revised by the Census Bureau for 2002. Therefore, 2002 data are not directly comparable to previous years' data. **actual figure in tonnes. 1. American Forest & Paper Assn. 2. AF&PA. 3. Fibre Box Assn., AF&PA. 4. Pulp and Paper Products Council. 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.