AF&PA Announced Most Recent Printing-Writing Monthly Report

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) announced release of July 2023 Printing-Writing Monthly Report.

According to the report, printing-writing paper shipments recorded a decline by 25% during the month, in comparison with the same month a year before. The U.S. purchases of total printing-writing papers were down by 32% over the year. Meantime, the inventory levels remained almost flat, falling by 0.2% from the prior month.

The U.S shipments of uncoated free sheet (UFS), coated free sheet (CFS) and mechanical grade papers declined when matched with July last year. The UFS shipments witnessed smallest dip in shipments, falling by 14% year-on-year. The net imports as well as purchases of all the three grades of printing-writer registered decline in June this year, compared with the year-ago month.

The AF&PA monthly report also suggests nominal surge by 0.4% in total packaging papers & specialty packaging shipments in July this year over the prior year month. The cumulative shipments during the initial seven-month period were down by 3%.

The bag and sack shipments totalled 89,400 short tons in July 2023. The year-to-date shipments were down by 1.1%. Meantime, the bleached papers operating rate stood at 78.0%, up by 5.4% from the previous year. The year-to-date operating rate was down by 2.2%, AF&PA report said.