U.S. P&W Paper Shipments up in June

Total U.S. printing and writing (P&W) paper shipments increased 11% in June compared with June 2009, the eighth consecutive year-over-year (YOY) increase and the sixth double-digit YOY increase, according to the AF&PA (Washington, D.C., USA) June 2010 Printing-Writing Paper Report, Three of the four major P&W grades posted double-digit increases compared with last June, while the fourth was down 1%.

U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of P&W papers also increased in June, up 4% YOY. Total P&W paper inventory levels edged down 2% from May 2010. Additional key findings include:

• Uncoated free sheet (UFS) shipments in June declined 1% from June 2009
• Coated free sheet (CFS) and uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments were the largest for any month of 2010 thus far
•  Shipments of coated mechanical (CM) increased 15% from June 2009.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/