<B>Newsprint Production, Shipments Improve</B>

North American newsprint production continues to strengthen, according to recent figures from the Pulp and Paper Products Council. Although total production increased sharply, U.S. mills were the main reason for the improvement as production jumped by close to 12 percent to 601,000 metric tons for the month. Canadian newsprint production for July stands at 797,000 metric tons, a 1.2 percent decrease from last July.

The operating rate at North American newsprint mills also is strengthening. For July, the average operating rate stands at 99 percent of capacity, compared to 93 percent of capacity for the same time last year. The average operating rate for the first seven months stands at 98 percent of capacity, compared to last year's seven-month average of 94 percent of capacity.

With the expected increase in finished newsprint prices this month, there has likely been a number of publishers who have been buying additional newsprint to offset the price hike.

For the first seven months of the year U.S. newsprint production stands at 3.923 million metric tons, a 5.1 percent increase from 1999's seven-month total. Meanwhile, Canadian newsprint production stands at 5.404 million metric tons for the first seven months, a 0.5 percent decrease from figures the same time last year.

The shipment of finished newsprint also strengthened for both July and first seven months. July's shipment total stands at 1.373 million metric tons, a 5.3 percent improvement from figures the same time last year. The figures for the month pushed the seven-month shipment total to 9.319 million metric tons, a 3.8 percent improvement from the same time last year.

Leading the improvement for the month was shipments to the United States, which saw an 8 percent increase for the month to 1.023 million metric tons. For the first seven months shipments to the United States increased by 4.4 percent to 6.818 million metric tons.