The uptick in some forest products grades seems to have skirted the newsprint industry. Production figures over the past several quarters show production at Canadian and U.S. newsprint mills continue to post declining numbers.
According to the Pulp and Paper Products Council, figures from April, the most recently reported month, show North American newsprint production declining by 5.2 percent to 1.160 million metric tons.
Newsprint mills in North America reported an operating rate of 88 percent for April. The downward trend in production is reflected in the operating rate, which has fallen below 90 percent 10 of the past 12 months.
A modest positive for the hard hit newsprint industry has been the improvement in shipments of finished products. After several straight months of double digit percentage decreases, shipments of newsprint for April declined only 3.2 percent. The drop in shipments was caused by a 2.1 percent drop in domestic demand and a 7 percent decline in export orders.
Production at U.S. newsprint mills dropped by close to 10 percent for the month, with April’s figure standing at 452,000 metric tons. For the first four months production stands at 1.732 million metric tons, a 16.2 percent drop from figures the same time last year.
Meanwhile, newsprint production at Canadian mills posted a much smaller 2.1 percent drop for April. The total for the month stands at 708,000 metric tons. For the first four months Canadian newsprint production stands at 2.746 million metric tons, a 7.9 percent drop from figures the same time last year.
While production and shipments are still declining year over year, the inventory and days of supply on hand have shown some improvements. For inventory levels, the inventory level at the end of April stands at 476,000 metric tons, a modest decline from figures the previous month.
As for the days of supply on hand, the number of days at the end of April stands at 41 days, up from March’s figure of 40 days, although down from last April’s figure of 50 days.