AF&PA publishes US paper reports for November 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 November last year. The monthly figures suggest marginal rise in demand for various paper grades in the US.

According to the statistics, the containerboard production has increased slightly by nearly 1.1% in November ’15 when compared with the production during the same month a year before. Also, the average daily production of containerboard has gone higher by 0.4% over the previous month. The operating rate for containerboard declined to 94.1% in November.

The total kraft paper shipments during November surged higher by nearly 3% over same month the previous year to 130.3 thousand short tons. Out of this, bleached kraft paper shipments constituted 6.80 thousand short tons whereas the balance 123.60 thousand short tons accounted for unbleached kraft paper shipments. The combined shipment for the initial eleven-month period of the year was higher by 2.1% when compared with the corresponding eleven-month period in 2014.

The total shipment of printing-writing paper declined marginally by 1% in November 2015 when matched with the same month a year before. The inventory levels of printing-writing paper remained essentially flat when compared with the previous month.

The November ‘15 coated free sheet (CFS) paper shipments dropped 3% when compared with the previous year. Uncoated free sheets (UFS) shipment rose sharply by nearly 8% during the month relative to shipments in November 2014. This is the third time during past six months that UFS shipments have registered month-on-month increase. Coated mechanical (CM) shipments during November ‘15 plunged lower by almost 22% when matched with the same month in 2014. Uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments during November this year have reduced by 4% when matched with Nov ‘14.