North American newsprint producers ended a difficult year with a steep decline in production for December. According to the Pulp and Paper Products Council, North American newsprint mills produced slightly more than 1 million metric tons of newsprint in December. This is down 25 percent from the previous December.
The figures for the month pushed production for the year to 14.145 million metric tons, a 10.4 percent decline from 2000.
The decline was due to the wholesale downtime taken throughout North America by mills. Additionally, the close of Enron’s New Jersey newsprint mill also had a negative impact on the overall newsprint market in North America.
Reflecting the sharp fall, for December the operating rate for the month fell to 78 percent of capacity, compared to the previous year’s December total of 97 percent of capacity. For the full year the average operting rate stands at 90 percent of capacity, compared to 2000’s operating rate of 97 percent of capacity.
The steep decline in production was seen with both U.S. and Canadian mills. For U.S. mills, production dropped by 26.3 percent for December and by 12.2 percent for the full year.
Canadian mills posted only slightly better numbers, down 23.6 percent for December and down 9.2 percent for the full year.
The shipment of finished newsprint also posted a steep decline for the month. According to the PPPC, shipments for December dropped by 19.4 percent to 1.101 million metric tons. For the full year shipments stand at 14.110 million metric tons, an 11.1 percent drop from 2000’s figures.