Recent statistics from the Pulp and Paper Products Council show that shipment of finished newsprint from North American newsprint mills firmed during October, reversing a slide that has taken place throughout this year.
According to the association, October shipments stand at 1.213 million metric tons, a 1.3 percent increase from last October’s figure. Despite the improvement, shipments over the first ten months of the year are down 3.6 percent to 11.419 million metric tons, compared to figures the same time last year.
While shipments improved for the month, the only region that showed an increase between last October and this October was shipments outside North America. Shipments to the United States, the largest end market for newsprint, dropped by 2.3 percent for the month; shipments to Canadian sources dropped an even sharper 12.2 percent; while shipments to overseas sources shot up a strong 27.8 percent.
For the first ten months of the year shipments to U.S. sources dropped by 2.8 percent to 8.346 million metric tons; shipments to Canadian end sources dropped by 8.9 percent to 923,000 metric tons; and shipments to overseas sources declined by 4.3 percent to 2.149 million metric tons.