<B>Domestic Paper Stock Consumption Posts Sharp Drop</B>

The consumption of recovered fiber by domestic paper and paperboard mills continues its sharp decline. For October, consumption stands at 3.041 million tons, slightly down from last October’s figure of 3.090 million tons.

For the first ten months of the year consumption of recovered fiber stands at 29.826 million tons, a 5 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

Adding to the problem with the recovered fiber segment, inventory levels are up at the end of October compared to last October’s inventory level. Figures from the American Forest and Paper Association show inventory at 1.028 million tons at the end of October, a 2.5 percent increase from last October.

The jump in inventory while consumption of the material declines points out the difficulties that the paper industry is having with markets. While downtime is being taken to remove excess capacity from the market, there continues to be an imbalance in the domestic market, which is working to bring into balance market conditions.