<b>North American News Production Slides for February, YTD</b>

North American newsprint production dipped 2.1 percent for February to 1.219 million metric tons, bringing the two-month total to 2.575 million metric tons, a 3.5 percent decline from figures the same time last year.

According to the Pulp and Paper Products Council Canadian production declined by 1.1 percent for February, while production at U.S. mills dropped a much steeper 3.6 percent.

Canadian newsprint production stands at 718,000 metric tons for February, bringing the two-month total to 1.509 million metric tons. The operating rate during February stands at 98 percent of capacity, up from last February’s rate of 96 percent of capacity. For the first two months the operating rate stands at 97 percent of capacity, compared to last year’s two-month operating rate of 96 percent of capacity.

U.S. newsprint production posted less optimistic numbers for the year so far. For February, production declined by 3.6 percent to 501,000 metric tons, pushing the two-month total down 5.2 percent to 1.066 million metric tons.

The shipment of finished newsprint dropped sharply for February, as well as for the first two months. According to the Pulp and Paper Products Council shipments stand at 1.2 million metric tons for February, a 5.5 percent drop from figures the same time last year. For the first two months shipments stand at 2.533 million metric tons, a 2.6 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

Shipments from the United States dropped 5.1 percent for February to 500,000 metric tons, while shipments from Canadian sources dropped an even sharper 5.7 percent for the month.