Canadian Newsprint Sales Continue Decline

Canadian newsprint shipments continued their drastic fall in May, according to the Montreal Gazette, Montréal, Qué., Canada, and Canadian mills that have been exporting 40% or more of their output to Asia and Latin America ran into tough competition from European producers because of the euro's decline and the high Canadian dollar.

Total shipments, the report noted, were down 10.9% year-to-year and 9.4% in the first five months of this year. Domestic demand was more resilient in the latest month, but this was overshadowed by the fall in export shipments (down 28% year-to-year).

North American demand overall was down 2.3% from a year earlier – newsprint's decline of 7.3% was offset by an unusually strong commercial printing segment, the newspaper report added.

Eastern Canada's newsprint export mills include Resolute Forest Product's Mersey mill in Nova Scotia, being shutdown, and Kruger's Corner Brook mill in Newfoundland and Labrador, where unionized workers voted in favor of a contact offer late last week (see article in PULP & PAPER section below). North American newsprint prices have been unchanged for 22 months.

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