U.S. P&W Shipments Down 8% in June
Total U.S. printing and writing (P&W) paper shipments decreased 8% in June compared with June 2011, according to the AF&PA, Washington, D.C., USA, June 2012 Printing-Writing Paper Report released this week. Shipments for coated free sheet and uncoated mechanical grades posted double-digit year-over-year decreases compared with last June.
U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of P&W papers also decreased 8% in June. Total P&W paper inventory levels decreased 4% from last month, primarily due to double-digit decreases among the mechanical grade papers.
Additional key findings include:
- Purchases of coated mechanical (CM) papers are up slightly compared with June 2011, which is the second consecutive year-over-year increase
- Shipments of uncoated free sheet (UFS) papers are down year-over-year, which is the second-largest decrease in past 20 months
- Shipments of coated free sheet (CFS) papers are at the highest level since November 2011 but still decreased year-over-year
- Uncoated mechanical (UM) paper shipments are down double-digits compared with a year-ago, but reached the highest point in the past five months.
TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/