U.S. P&W Paper Shipments Decline

Total U.S. printing and writing (P&W) paper shipments decreased 9% in April compared with April 2010, according to the AF&PA (Washington, D.C., USA) April 2011 Printing-Writing Paper Report released this week. All four major P&W grades posted decreases compared with last April. U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of P&W papers decreased 5% in April. Total P&W paper inventory levels increased 3% compared with March 2011.

Some points of interest from the report include:

  1. March exports of uncoated free sheet (UFS) increased year-over-year for the first time in eight months
  2. Inventory of coated free sheet (CFS) increased for the third time this year in April
  3. The coated mechanical (CM) inventory month-over-month increase is in the double digits for the second time this year
  4. Uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments were down in the double digits year-over-year for the first time since November 2009.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/