<b>Exports Hold Up First Month</b>

Despite the recent problems with exports of recovered fiber, statistics from the Commerce Department find paper stock exports increased the first month of the year.

January’s export total stands at 921,500 tons with a value of $89 million. The total tonnage figure is an increase of 8.6 percent from figures the same time last year. The figures for the month bring the annual rate, year to date, to slightly more than 11 million tons.

While total exports held up the first month, shipments to Canada, the largest end market for U.S. recovered fiber outside the United States, dipped. For January, shipments dropped 2.2 percent to 215,948 tons, a 2.2 percent drop from last year. On an annual rate, year to date, shipments to Canada stand at 2.591 million tons.