AF&PA Reports Lower U.S. Paper Production in 2025

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has released its 66th Annual Paper Industry Capacity and Fiber Consumption Survey. The survey highlights key production, capacity, and fiber consumption trends across the U.S. paper and paperboard industry during the previous year.

According to the survey report, U.S. paper and paperboard production recorded a decline of 3.7% year-over-year to 66.3 million tons in 2025. Several segments demonstrated resilient performance, despite the overall decline, it noted.

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The containerboard segment recorded production of 36.1 million tons in 2025, down 4.4% from the previous year. Containerboard capacity also decreased 5.1% in 2025, although mills maintained a robust operating rate of 91.9%. The segment continues to account for more than half of total U.S. paper and paperboard capacity.

Packaging paper production increased 1.7%, while boxboard production remained stable at approximately 12.4 million tons. Meanwhile, tissue production declined slightly by 0.8% to 7.8 million tons.

The printing-writing paper market capacity fell 13.9% in 2025 to 7.7 million tons, down significantly from nearly 18 million tons in 2015. However, operating rates improved to 82.8% from 76.8% in 2024.

Overall fiber consumption used in paper and paperboard manufacturing declined 3.5% in 2025, the survey said.