Canadian Pulp Production Surges for January

Canadian market pulp production is starting the year with a bang. The most recent figures show January production jumping 9 percent to 830,000 metric tons. The operating rate at Canadian pulp mills also jumped, from 95 percent of capacity last January to 102 percent of capacity this past January.

Helping drive market pulp production has been the sharp jump in shipments, the Pulp and Paper Products Council reports. For January shipments moved up 16 percent to 803,000 metric tons. The increase was driven by strong shipments of Western Europe, and outside North America, exempting Japan, which increased 23 percent for the month. Meanwhile, shipments to the United States increased by 10 percent to 280,000 metric tons for the month.

The inventory of Canadian pulp on hand dropped sharply during January from figures the same time last year. For the month the inventory level stands at 574,000 metric tons, compared to the previous January figure to 749,000 metric tons. Meanwhile, the days of supply on hand dipped to 23 days, compared to January 1999's supply figure of 32 days.