According to the American Forest and Paper Association, total fiber consumption declined 0.9 percent at U.S. paper and paperboard mills last year, but is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.0 percent over the next three years.
With production of paper and paperboard "poised to rebound" in the next several years, increased fiber consumption is expected to follow, the survey said.
Consumption of recovered paper at U.S. mills declined 2.7 percent last year, to 33.9 million tons. This was 1.7 million tons, 4.8 percent below the level projected in the 2003 Capacity Survey.
The downward revision was attributable to weak domestic production of paper and paperboard and the permanent closure of seven recycling mills.
The current report projects that U.S. mill consumption of recovered paper will grow at an annual average rate of 1.1 percent during the next three years.
Mixed paper consumption will increase at an average annual rate of 2.2 percent in the same three-year period, according to the report.
Consumption of newsprint and corrugated declined in 2003, but both are projected to increase during the three-year period, newsprint by an average of 2.2 percent annually and corrugated by an average of 0.7 percent annually.
Pulp substitutes is the only recovered paper grade to show growth in 2003, rising 6.6 percent.
Industry plans suggest that consumption of this grade will increase at a rate of 0.6 percent during the 2004 - 2006 period. High grade deinking grades fell 8.2 percent last year, but the survey shows that consumption of this grade should increase at an annual average rate of 0.2 percent from 2004 through 2006.
The report showed that wood pulp consumption totaled nearly 57.5 million tons in 2003, or 3.5 percent below the figure projected for that year. Wood pulp provided 62.7 percent of the fiber used in the United States last year, slightly more than the 2002 figure of 62.0 percent. The increase in U.S. wood pulp consumption for 2003 was attributed to the 1 percent increase in unbleached kraft paperboard production and the 4.6 percent increase in production of semichemical medium.
U.S. pulpwood consumption totaled 99.7 million cords in 2003, just 298,000 cords short of what was predicted in last year's survey. Softwood pulpwood consumption was up 4.4% in 2003. Hardwood pulpwood increased 2.1 percent in 2003.
Pulpwood consumption in the United States is expected to top 100 million cords this year and grow at an average annual rate of 0.8 percent in the 2004-2006 period, the report said.