AF&PA Recorded Decline in U.S. Paper and Paperboard Capacity

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. paper and paperboard capacity reported marginal decline of 1.1% in 2018. This is with reference to the 59th Annual Survey of Paper, Paperboard and Pulp Capacity report recently published by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA).

According to the report, U.S. containerboard capacity hit new record high of 39.7 million tons in 2018, rising marginally by 1.9% from the prior year. Also, containerboard accounted for 47.6% of the total U.S. paper and paperboard capacity during the year. It must be noted that containerboard’s share of total capacity was only 38.3% in 2008. This signals significant improvement in containerboard production capabilities over the past decade.

The capacity for tissue paper too was up marginally by 1.3% in 2018 to total 8.8 million tons. Over a decade ago, the tissue paper capacity was only 7.0%. The year saw opening of a new tissue mill with two machines and starting of a new tissue machine at an existing mill, AF&PA report said. Meantime, the capacity for newsprint and printing-writing papers extended decline during the previous year. The year witnessed permanent closure of machines producing these grades or conversion of machines to the production of other grades.

The AF&PA report includes data in response to survey carried out among companies representing 87% of the U.S. paper and paperboard industry capacity. It also includes details on industry capacity data and fiber consumption by mills during the previous year.