AF&PA publishes US paper report for October 2015

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The Washington D.C.-headquartered American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) has released the production statistics for the month of October this year. The monthly figures suggest continued decline in demand for various paper grades in the US.

According to the statistics, the containerboard production went lower by nearly 1% in October ’15 when compared with the production during the same month a year before. Also, the average daily production of containerboard has dropped by 1.4% over the previous month. The operating rate for containerboard declined to 94.5% in October.

The total kraft paper shipments during October surged higher by nearly 7.2% over same month the previous year to 149.2 thousand short tons. Out of this, bleached kraft paper shipments constituted 9.40 thousand short tons whereas the balance 139.80 thousand short tons accounted for unbleached kraft paper shipments. The combined shipment for the initial ten-month period of the year was higher by 2% when compared with the corresponding ten-month period in 2014.

The total shipment of printing-writing paper declined 8% in October this year when matched with the same month a year before. The inventory levels of printing-writing paper dropped by 3% from the previous month.

The October ‘15 coated free sheet (CFS) paper shipments dropped 7% when compared with the previous year. Uncoated free sheets (UFS) shipment dropped nearly 4% during the month relative to shipments in October last year. This is the fourth time during past six months that UFS shipments have registered month-on-month decline. Coated mechanical (CM) shipments during October ‘15 plunged lower by almost 21% when matched with the same month in 2014. Uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments during October this year have reduced by 3% when matched with Oct ‘14.