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Total U.S. printing & writing paper shipments increased 6% in December 2009 compared with December 2008, according to the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA) December 2009 Printing-Writing Paper Report. This is the second consecutive year-ago increase. For the year-to-date, shipments were down 15% (all four major printing-writing grades recorded the lowest year-to-date decline when compared with 2008 for the sixth consecutive month). U.S. purchases (shipments + imports - exports) of printing-writing papers also increased in December, up 3% versus year-ago December, yet were still down 17% for the year-to-date. Total printing-writing paper inventory levels decreased 41,000 tons from November, a decrease of 2%.

Additional key findings from the report include:

• Uncoated free sheet (UFS) shipments were up versus year-ago for the first time since April 2007
• Coated free sheet (CFS) shipments hit double-digit growth versus year-ago
• Year-ago shipments of coated mechanical (CM) reached double-digit growth for the second consecutive month
• Uncoated mechanical (UM) purchases were up double-digits compared with last December.