The American Forest & Paper Association reported total printing writing paper shipments decreased 19.6% in June 2009 compared to June 2008. For the year to date, shipments were down 22.7%.
According to AF&PA’s June 2009 Printing-Writing Paper Report, U.S. purchases (shipments + imports – exports) of printing writing papers dropped 21.8% in June versus year-ago June and declined 24.1% for the year to date.
Coated Free Sheet
First half 2009 uncoated free sheet (UFS) shipments were lower than first half 2008. UFS shipments were down 15.6% compared to June 2008, to 815,500 tons. While the June decrease is the largest in the past four months, June 2008 shipments were the second highest recorded in 2008 – the highest was January 2008.
For the first half of 2009, UFS shipments were 15.2% below last year. U.S. purchases of UFS were also down, declining 16.1% when compared to June 2008. UFS inventories decreased 4.8% compared to last month, a decline of 51,800 tons.
Coated Free Sheet
Coated free sheet (CFS) shipments declined sharply for the sixth consecutive month. CFS shipments dropped by 27.5% compared to June 2008, to 280,900 tons. For the year to date, shipments of CFS were down 29.0%. U.S. purchases of CFS decreased even more, down 33.8% compared to last June and were off 32.1% for the year to date. CFS inventories increased 5.3% compared to May, an increase of 32,600 tons.
Coated Mechanical
The decline in coated mechanical (CM) shipments slowed, but remained in double-digits. CM shipments fell 16.6% when compared to June 2008, settling in at 280,700 tons. Year to date shipments of CM were down 32.7% compared to last year. U.S. purchases of CM were down 20.2% compared to June 2008, and for the year to date were down 33.6%. CM inventories increased 2.4%, or 6,900 tons, from last month.
Uncoated Mechanical
Uncoated mechanical (UM) shipments declined by more than 20% compared to 2008 for all six months of 2009. UM shipments decreased 28.8% when compared to June 2008, to 142,400 tons, and for the year to date were down 27.6%. U.S. purchases of UM were down 24.5% when compared to June 2008 and were down 25.0% for the year to date. UM inventories decreased 10.2%, or 10,400 tons, from May.