Printing, writing paper stocks have tumbled

By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 4/30/2008 10:05:00 AM

North American mill inventories of printing and writing paper plunged to 1.8 million net tons at the end of March, a 19.3% drop compared with a year ago, the Pulp and Paper Products Council reports. Also, demand for these papers dropped 1.3% to 6.48 million tons. Also reflecting the weak demand is the fact that mills operated at 94% of capacity in March to make 2.04 million tons, down 6.5% compared with March 2007.

Uncoated free sheet, the basic office white paperstock, remains the weakest North American market for printing and writing papers. A review of the statistics shows that first-quarter demand of uncoated free sheet dropped by almost 4% to 2.88 million net tons, paced by a 10% drop in March shipments.