U.S. P&W Paper Shipments Down 5.1% from 2010

Total U.S. printing and writing (P&W) paper shipments decreased 5.1% in June compared with June 2010, according to the AF&PA‘s (Washington, D.C., USA) June 2011 Printing-Writing Paper Report. All four major P&W paper grades posted decreases compared with last June.

U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of P&W papers decreased 6% in June. Total P&W paper inventory levels decreased 4% compared with May 2011.

Some points of interest from the report include:

• May exports of uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper increased year-over-year for the third straight month
• Inventory of coated free sheet (CFS) paper decreased for the second time in the past eight months
• Coated mechanical (CM) paper inventory month-over-month decreased for the second time this year in June
• Uncoated mechanical (UM) paper shipments decreased year-over-year for the third consecutive time in 18 months.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/