Pulp Production Down Slightly in January

The production of market pulp at North American mills dropped 1 percent from last January’s figures. For the month production stands at 1.528 million metric tons as mills operated at 91 percent of capacity, unchanged from last January.

While production dipped slightly, production of U.S. mills actually increased by 4 percent between the two months, with this January’s figure at 640,000 metric tons. The operating rate at U.S. pulp mills also showed a strong improvement, with this month’s figure at 92 percent of capacity, compared to last January’s figure of 86 percent of capacity.

While total production did show a modest decline, total shipments for the year are up by 5 percent for the month to 1.383 million metric tons.