Domestic Paper Stock Use Dips for Year

The overall consumption of recovered fiber at domestic mills posted a decline for last year, compared to figures the same time in 2001. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, domestic paper stock use totaled 35.012 million tons, a 0.6 percent drop from figures the same time in 2001. While declining for the year, the consumption for December was essentially unchanged from figures for December 2001.

The decline in overall domestic use can be attributed more toward the extended slide in the newsprint industry, which posted a steep drop in production last year. As earlier reported, the production of recycled paperboard remained essentially flat for the year.

While domestic paper stock use slumped for 2002, the inventory of recovered fiber at the end of December stands at 1.098 million tons, a 4.8 percent increase from figures the previous month. While the jump in inventory levels is of some concern, on a comparison level, the actual inventory of recovered fiber at the end of December is down 0.6 percent from December 2001’s inventory level.

While domestic demand flagged through most of last year, the export market showed strong growth. At the end of November, paper stock exports stand at 11.299 million tons, a 7.3 percent increase from figures the same time last year.

The trend toward greater movement of recovered fiber offshore continues over the first several months of this year. Anecdotal reports note that offshore demand remains strong, even as many domestic mills continue to hold the line on any additional tonnage orders.

For November, paper stock exports stand at 1.133 million tons, a sharp jump from the previous month’s export total of slightly more than 935,000 tons. While China continues to gain in importance, Canada continues to be one of the strongest buyers of recovered fiber from the United States. For November, a total of 213,488 tons of recovered fiber were shipped from the United States to Canada. The total brings the annual rate, year to date, to 2.582 million tons, a 13.1 percent jump from export totals for 2001.