Paper Stock Consumption Shows Slight Improvement

The consumption of recovered fiber moved up slightly through the first 11 months of the year, compared to last year. For November, consumption of recovered fiber reached 2.943 million tons, pushing the 11-month total to 33.936 million tons, a 0.8 percent increase from last year.

While consumption increased, the inventory of recovered fiber at mills continued to sharply decline. The most recent figures from the American Forest and Paper Association show the inventory at the end of the month at 1.030 million tons, essentially unchanged from the previous month, although down by close to 19 percent compared to the same time last year.