NA Newsprint Production Plummets for February

The production of newsprint at North American newsprint mills declined by 12 percent for February to 1.065 million metric tons. The operating rate at newsprint mills during the month also dropped, from 98 percent of capacity last February, to 89 percent of capacity for this month.

While both Canadian and U.S. producers saw declines for the month, U.S. newsprint mills posted a much steeper 15 percent drop. Additionally, U.S. newsprint mills reported a drop of close to 16 percent over the first two months of the year.

Canadian mills also posted sharp declines between last year and this year. For this February, production, which stands at 647,000 metric tons, is a drop of slightly less than 10 percent, while the production of newsprint the first two months dropped by 11.6 percent to 1.334 million metric tons.

Along with a sharp drop in production, the shipment of finished newsprint also plummeted for both the month and first two months of the year. For February, shipments stand at 993,000 metric tons, a 16.7 percent drop from figures the same time last February. For the first two months, shipments dropped an even steeper 16.9 percent to 2.094 million metric tons.

U.S. shipments again led the way, with shipments declining by 18.4 percent for the month and by 17 percent for the first two months. Canadian newsprint producers saw shipments fall by 15.4 percent for February and by 16.8 percent for the first two months.

The decline in production and shipments, however, also resulted in a sharp jump in the inventory of material on hand. At the end of February, inventory stands at 495,000 metric tons, a sharp jump from the previous month, as well as an even steeper increase from last February’s total of 375,000 metric tons.

Despite the jump in inventory, the number of days of supply on hand did decrease, from 49 days last February to 43 days this January to 42 days of supply for this past February.