Domestic Paper Stock Use Continues Slide

The domestic consumption of recovered fiber continues its sharp decline. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, domestic paper stock use dipped by 4.2 percent for the first seven months of the year to 19.544 million tons. The consumption figure the same time last year was 20.393 million tons.

For July, the most recently reported month, consumption stands at 2.803 million tons, compared to last July’s consumption figure of 2.996 million tons.

The sharp decline in domestic use follows the steep decline in the production of recycled paperboard over the first seven months of the year.

While consumption continues to slide, the inventory of recovered fiber at domestic mills has been showing a far different look. At the end of July the inventory level stands at 1.076 million tons, more than a 12 percent increase from figures the same time last year. While the figure is up between the two months, the average inventory level is down about 3.4 percent from the prior month.

During the same time that domestic demand has slumped, exports of recovered fiber have been skyrocketing. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the export of recovered fiber for June stands at 991,077 tons, a 21.6 percent jump from figures the same time last year.

On an annual rate, year to date, exports of recovered fiber stand at slightly less than 13.5 million tons, compared to last year’s export total of 11.4 million tons.

The export of recovered fiber to China continues to be the major reason for the stable market for recovered fiber in the United States. However, other regions of the world have seen their imports of U.S. recovered fiber pick up. Shipments of recovered fiber to Canada climbed by more than 13 percent for June to 220,825 million tons.