The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has published its preliminary statistics for 2016. Thus, according to CEPI, in 2016, European paper and board production has decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous year. Total production in 2016 was around 91 million tonnes.
Early estimates indicate that world paper and board production will be up by 0.8% in 2016 to reach 410 million tonnes. The production of packaging grades is estimated to have increased by around 2.3% compared to 2015. Within the packaging grades, case materials - mainly used for transport packaging and corrugated boxes - recorded an increase in production of 2.2%
Sanitary and household manufacturers are estimated to have seen an increase in output of about 1.8% compared to 2015 and accounted for 8.1% of total production. Weak printing and publishing activities continue to have an impact on the overall production of graphic grades, which fell by around 3.7%. Output of newsprint - used mainly for daily newspapers - is expected to fall around 6.4%.
Preliminary indications are that imports of paper and board into Europe have increased by around 6% compared to 2015. The overall consumption of paper and board in CEPI countries in 2016 increased by 1% compared to 2015
It is estimated that the production of pulp (integrated + market) has increased by 0.7% compared to the previous year, with total output of approximately 35.6 million tonnes. The use of paper for recycling has fallen by around 0.3% when compared to 2015