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The Washington-based American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has released its 60th Annual Survey of Paper, Paperboard and Pulp Capacity. The trade group found that while overall paper and paperboard capacity in the United States declined by 0.5 percent in 2019, some sectors rose, including tissue paper, containerboard and boxboard.
Tissue paper capacity rose 0.6 percent in 2019, matching a 10-year growth trend from 2010 to 2019. In 2019 and 2020, seven new tissue paper machines have been or will be started, with tissue capacity thus projected to exceed the decade’s modest average growth, increasing 3.5 percent in 2020.
Paper’s share of overall mill capacity (compared with board) dropped from 44 percent in 2009 to 34 percent in 2019, as newsprint and printing and writing paper capacities continued to decline. Those declines “more than offset” the gains in tissue paper capacity, says AF&PA.
Several machines producing communication paper grades have been permanently closed or converted to the production of containerboard and packaging papers, adds the association.
Containerboard capacity increased 1.5 percent in 2019, reaching a record 40.3 million tons. AF&PA says it marks the ninth consecutive annual increase in containerboard capacity. “As a result, containerboard accounted for 48.6 percent of U.S. paper and paperboard capacity in 2019, up from 39.3 percent in 2009,” states the group.
The full report, available for $2,300 by contacting AF&PA’s Kory Bockman at statistics_publications@afandpa.org, includes U.S. industry capacity data for 2019 and 2020 for all major grades of paper, paperboard and pulp.
The report also includes statistics on fiber consumption, based on a survey of more than 300 U.S. pulp and paper mills conducted in February and March of 2020. Survey data includes responses from companies representing 87 percent of U.S. paper and paperboard industry capacity, with estimates completing the AF&PA’s data set.