Newsprint Production Increases

North American newsprint production both reported strength at the end of the year. Recent figures from the Pulp and Paper Products Council shows Canadian newsprint production moved up 2.3 percent for December to 771,000 metric tons. The figures for the month brought the 1999 production figure to 9.204 million metric tons.

Meanwhile, despite an uptick in production for December, the operating rate at Canadian mills dipped, from 95 percent of capacity in December 1998 to 92 percent of capacity last December. For the full year, the operating rate stands at 93 percent of capacity, compared to 87 percent of capacity in 1998.

U.S. newsprint production also increased for the month, according to the PPPC. December's figures stand at 575,000 metric tons, a 4 percent improvement from December 1998. Reflecting the improvement, the operating rate increased to 101 percent of capacity, compared to December 1998's rate of 97 percent of capacity.

For the full year, however, U.S. newsprint production dipped, with last year's figure of 6.516 million metric tons, a 0.9 percent dip from the prior year. The operating rate between the two years also declined slightly, with 1999's operating rate of 97 percent of capacity down from the prior year's figure of 98 percent of capacity.

Shipments of finished newsprint posted a significant jump for December. Canadian news shipments jumped more than 15 percent to 824,000 metric tons, helping push the shipment total for the year to 9.169 million metric tons, a 7.8 percent increase.

The biggest gainer was shipments of newsprint outside North America. This region imported 246,000 metric tons of Canadian newsprint in December, a 70 percent increase from 1998's figures. The total was spurred by the recovering economies of the Pacific Rim.

The United States, the largest importer of Canadian newsprint, posted a more modest 0.4 percent increase between December 1999 and December 1998. For the full year, shipments of Canadian newsprint to the United States increased by 6.7 percent to 5.621million metric tons.