<B>Exports Strong First Ten Months</B>

The export market may have softened the last month of the year, but the export total for the first ten months of the year showed strong growth.

The Commerce Department reports that through October exports stand at 10.329 million tons, a 27.3 percent improvement from 1999. Further, the exports for October stand at 966,583 tons, up sharply from the previous month.

Continuing to be the driver for paper stock exports has been the role of Canada as an end market. Over the first ten months of this year paper stock exports to Canada stand at 2.898 million tons, a 28.8 percent improvement from figures the same time in 1999.