<B>Canadian Pulp Production Up for April</B>

Canadian market pulp production continues to surge. April production figures are up 10 percent from last April, according to the Pulp and Paper Products Council. Totals for the month reached 770,000 metric tons, compared to last April's figure of 703,000 metric tons. The operating rate for the month also jumped to 98 percent of capacity, compared to last April's figure of 91 percent of capacity.

The figures for the month bring the four-month production total to 3.153 million tons, a 6 percent improvement from last year. The operating rate this year also improved, from 96 percent of capacity last year to 100 percent of capacity this year.

Shipments also increased, although at a much lower rate. For this past April shipments reached 766,000 metric tons, a 2 percent increase from last April's figure. For the first four months shipments stand at 3.187 million metric tons, a 6 percent increase from 1999.

Broken out by region, shipments to the United States increased 10 percent to 268,000 metric tons for the month; shipments to Western Europe increased 7 percent; shipments to Japan increased by 14 percent, while domestic shipments dropped 30 percent; and shipments to other regions declined 6 percent.