The production of Canadian market pulp
increased by 10 percent for October, compared to figures the same time last
year. For the month production stands at 789,000 metric tons.
The figures for the month pushed the 11-month
total to 7.739 million metric tons, a 5 percent increase from the same time
last year.
The operating rate for October stands at 97
percent of capacity, compared to 90 percent of capacity last October. For the
first 11 months the operating rate stands at 97 percent of capacity, compared
to 94 percent of capacity during the same time last year.
While production improved for the month, the
shipment of finished product posted a fairly sharp decline. According to the
Pulp and Paper Products Council shipments of Canadian market pulp stand at
676,000 metric tons, an 11 percent drop from figures the same time last year.
The drop for the month came from most regions, with shipments to Canadian
sources dropping 18 percent for the month; shipments to the United States
dropping 5 percent; shipments to Japan, declining 21 percent; and shipments to
other regions outside Western Europe dropping a steep 51 percent.
The steep decline between the two years
reflects a determination of many consumers to stem the price increases for
market pulp that have been pushed through to consumers over the past several
quarters.
Compensating for the sharp drop in
shipments, a number of pulp producers are opting to take production off line to
bring supply and demand back into balance.
While shipments for the month are down
significantly from last year, the shipment total for the first 11 months is
still up from last year. Total shipments for 2000 stand at 7.632 million metric
tons, a 1 percent increase from last year.
Broken out by individual regions, shipments
of market pulp to Canadian sources dropped 8 percent; shipments to the United
States increased 6 percent; shipments to Western Europe climbed 10 percent;
shipments to Japan climbed 6 percent; and shipments to other regions declined
by 13 percent.
One of the biggest concerns for pulp
producers has been the sharp increase in inventory stocks. According to the
most recent statistics, inventory on hand at the end of October stands at
656,000 metric tons, a jump of 113,000 metric tons from the previous month, as
well as a climb of 131,000 metric tons from figures the same time last year.
The increase in inventory levels pushed the
days of supply on hand to 28 days, compared to the previous month’s figure of
22 days and last October’s figure of 20 days.
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