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Newsprint fell
MONTREAL, QC — In 2003, shipments of newsprint fell 0.4%, to 8.5 million tonnes.
All of the decline was in deliveries to customers in North America, where demand dropped just over 1% — the result of continued weakness in newspaper advertising. Total U.S. consumption fell 0.8%.
Shipments offshore increased 3% — almost all of the growth was in exports to Asia, excluding Japan and China. Exports to Western Europe and Japan were down 8% and 19% respectively, while those to Latin America fell 5%.
Printing & writing papers had solid performance
MONTREAL, QC — Because of high demand in mechanical printing papers mainly to the U.S., shipments rose 3.6% in 2003, making it the strongest performing sector in the Canadian industry.
Shipments of uncoated mechanical papers rose 269,000 tonnes, or 7.5%. Deliveries of coated mechanical papers, used mainly in magazines, increased 64,000 tonnes or 7.6%, in spite of a 43% increase in North American imports from Western Europe.
Pulp was up
MONTREAL, QC — Canadian market pulp exports rose 1.3%, to 10.6 million tonnes. All of the growth was in shipments of high yield pulp, which increased over 8% from 2002.
Exports to the U.S. fell 4%, however, exports overseas increased close to 5%, owing almost entirely to a 39% jump in exports to China, which totaled 1.450 million tonnes, up from 1.045 million in 2002.
China is now Canada’s largest market in Asia.
Packaging slipped almost 5%
MONTREAL, QC — Shipments of packaging and boards fell almost 5% as a result of a decline in demand in North America and increased competition in the Asian market.
Shipments of container board fell 5.4% while sales of boxboard and kraft papers declined by 0.6% and 8.6%, respectively.
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