Paper Stock Use Improves for Month

Recent figures from the American Forest and Paper Association show domestic consumption of recovered fiber improving for November, compared to figures the same time the previous year.

For November, consumption of recovered fiber stands at 3 million tons, a sharp increase from November 2001’s total of 2.851 million tons. While the figures for the month are up sharply, the consumption total for the first 11 months of last year are still down from 2001’s total. For last year, the total stands at 32.323 million tons, a 0.6 percent drop from 2001’s 11-month total of 32.532 million tons.

While domestic use is slowly improving, inventory levels have been declining. According to a number of sources, the drop in inventory levels has helped keep price and movement of most grades if recovered fiber fairly stable.

At the end of November, paper stock inventory stands at 1.049 million tons, a 0.4 percent drop from figures the previous month. Further, the inventory level at the end of the month is a much sharper 2.9 percent drop from inventory levels the same time the previous year.

Domestic paper stock markets have solidified enough to allow for more stability in the market. While old corrugated markets had shown some sharp price declines toward the end of last year, most people had reported that movement was still decent.