CEPI notes decline in paper production in 2022

Preliminary statistics for 2022 released by the Brussels-based Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) show the consumption of paper and board in the European Union was stable in 2022, but production on the continent decreased by 5.9 percent compared with the prior year.

CEPI cites “the impact of high energy prices and of eroding EU and global economic growth” as factors in the continent’s decreased production. “The sector can, however, capitalize on positive long-term trends, which the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan could accelerate,” CEPI states.

The combined developments of decreased production and stable consumption led to a shift in the sector’s trade balance “in a context of increased global competition,” CEPI continues.

Regarding increased imports into the CEPI region, the organization says 23.6 percent of the imported volume came from North America while another 16.9 percent came from Asia. Latin America also accounted for 8 percent of the paper and board shipped into the CEPI region.

The largest percentage of imports, at 21.8 percent, came from European nations whose mills are not represented by CEPI. Although that could include Russia, CEPI says in 2022, its members’ trade with Russia “was impacted by the sanctions adopted by the EU,” with EU paper exports to Russia declining by 68 percent compared with the year before while CEPI region paper and board imports from Russia went down by 35 percent.

Other European nations outside the CEPI membership fold, based on information on CEPI’s website, could include several Balkan and Baltic nations as well as Turkey.

Regarding the situation within its member nations (Germany, France, the Benelux nations, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), CEPI says, “The weakness of the paper production recorded during the second part of the year is to a major extent explained by Europe’s high energy and raw material costs, which have led to temporary machine stops.”

The organization says it also sees “stability on the long-term, such as the utilization of paper for recycling, which decreased by 6.4 percent compared to 2021 but remains steady over a three-year period.”

Regarding recycling, CEPI adds, “High electricity and gas prices have significantly affected those paper mills which depend the most on paper for recycling for their production, which affected the outcome in 2022.”

Although experiencing reduced paper and board production in 2022, European mills consumed a higher percentage of Europe’s collected recovered fiber last year. CEPI says 96 percent of European “paper for recycling” was consumed by European paper and board mills. Exports of fiber were down by nearly 10 percent compared with 2021, “partly due to extended lockdowns in Asia.”

The declines in European output were not spread evenly among paper and board grades. “While paper packaging production in Europe decreased by 4.6 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, the output of packaging paper still remains well above pre-COVID levels,” CEPI says.

The statistics for graphic papers remain grim. “Newsprint decreased by 9.9 percent whilst printing and writing papers [output] decreased by 11.5 percent, as a result of machine closures and conversions,” CEPI says of 2022 compared with 2021.

Despite the setbacks of 2022, CEPI Director General Jori Ringman sounds an optimistic tone heading into 2023. “Long-term trends for our industry show that we can be ambitious about our future,” Ringman says. “Now we need the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan to be equally ambitious. We are confident that a transition towards a greener economy is in the long-term an opportunity for the European paper industry.”