Print paper imports down by 10.5% in year

Printing and communication paper imports fell by 10.5 per cent in the year to November, to 605,000 tonnes, according to the latest Pulp & Paper Edge Report by Tim Woods, and it was quality commercial stocks that fell the most.

Pushed lower by declining imports of printing and communication papers, Australia’s total imports of paper and paperboard fell 3.0 per cent over the year-ended November 2018, to 1.077 million tonnes.

The aggregate printing and communication grade imports were down 10.5 per cent over the year-ended November 2018. Within that, of the four main grades, only Coated Mechanical (CM) grades experienced a rise, up by 11.6 per cent for the year. Uncoated Mechanical was down by 11.8 per cent, Coated Woodfree down by 21.6 per cent and Uncoated Woodfree down by more than a quarter at 27.1 per cent.

Imports of newsprint were hammered, down by 61 per cent to just 20kt. Coated woodfree grades – the highest quality printing stock, were savaged, down by more than a fifth. As coated woodfree are fully imported in Australia the figures are particularly alarming.

Uncoated woodfree – copy paper and the like – fell by an even greater amount, but there is domestic production, and the latest anti-dumping duties have prevented much imported stock from getting past customs.