Total April printing-writing paper shipments fall 3% year-over-year, with shipments falling 8% for uncoated freesheet, but up 1% for coated freesheet and coated mechanical, 5% for uncoated mechanical: AF&PA

Mathew Kearney

WASHINGTON , May 22, 2014 (press release) – The American Forest & Paper Association has released its April 2014 Printing-Writing Paper Report.

According to the report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 3 percent in April compared to April 2013, with increases in year-over-year shipments in uncoated mechanical, coated mechanical and coated freesheet grades.

· Uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper shipments in April decreased 8 percent compared to April 2013. YTD shipments are down 7 percent in 2014. UFS imports increased 38 percent in March compared with a decrease in UFS export shipments of 12 percent.

· April coated free sheet (CFS) paper shipments increased 1 percent to 313,800 tons. YTD shipments of coated freesheet grades are essentially flat compared to 2013.

· Uncoated mechanical (UM) paper shipments also increased 5 percent in April, the seventh year-over-year increase in the past eight months. Year-to-date shipments of UM are up 3 percent compared to 2013.

· Coated mechanical (CM) shipments in April increased 1 percent relative to April 2013, the first year-over-year increase in the past 21 months. Imports of CM through March were down 12 percent relative to the same three month period in 2013.

The report can be purchased by contacting Caroline Nealon at Statistics_Publications@afandpa.org or 202-463-2448.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.