AF&PA Report Provides Insights into U.S. Paper Production and Capacity Trends

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The 65th Paper Industry Annual Capacity and Fiber Consumption Survey report, published by the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), offers comprehensive information on capacity trends and paper output in the United States.

The research claims that the U.S. paper industry made better use of its resources last year. In 2024, the overall operating rate for paper and paperboard increased by about 4% to 87.5%. Last year, the United States produced 3.2% more paper and paperboard. Every category saw increases from year to year, but containerboard had the biggest increase.

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Meanwhile, the capacity of paper and paperboard in the United States decreased by 2.0% to 78.1 million tons in 2024. The capacity of containerboard, which still makes up over half of all paper and paperboard capacity in the United States, decreased by 0.9%. The expansion in unbleached packaging papers was the primary driver of the 4.6% increase in packaging paper capacity. According to the AF&PA report, boxboard capacity decreased 3.3% over the prior year.

The paper states that in 2024, the tissue and printing-writing capacities had declines of 1.7% and 6.9%, respectively.