U.S. P&W Paper Shipments Decline
Total printing and writing (P&W) paper shipments decreased 7% in December compared with December 2010, according to AF&PA's (Washington, D.C., USA) December 2011 Printing-Writing Paper Report released this week. All four major P&W paper grades posted decreases compared with last December.
U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of P&W papers decreased 5% in December. Total P&W paper inventory levels increased 6% compared with November 2011.
Some points of interest from the report include:
- Exports of uncoated free sheet (UFS) increased year-over-year for the fourth time in the past six months
- Shipments of coated free sheet (CFS) decreased year-over-year for the thirteenth consecutive month, following 13 consecutive months of year-over-year increases
- Coated mechanical (CM) shipments decreased for the ninth consecutive month
- Uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments decreased year-over-year for the ninth consecutive month, following 15 consecutive months of year-over-year increases.
TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/