SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2010 (RISI) - US mills increased their recovered paper inventory by an average of 8% in December from November while ending last year with the lowest total stock in years.
Total stock was 850,200 tons, up from 751,500 tons at the end of November. Typically, US pulp and paper mills end a year with about 950,000 to 1 million tons of recovered paper inventory.
But US paper and board demand was impacted by the recession and off an estimated 10-12% in 2009 vs 2008 -- so mill demand for recovered paper fiber was down as well. Total US mill consumption of recovered paper dropped 12% last year to 28.7 million tons - its lowest annual total since 1993. In December, most of the roughly 100,000-ton rise in recovered paper stock was of old newspapers (up 52,000 tons in December from November) followed by old corrugated containers (34,000 tons), and mixed papers (20,000 tons). Stock of pulp substitutes declined 3,000 tons by yearend from the end of November. |
