Hello Team,
 
The FOEX US pix paper index for newsprint is down  $6.22 from $530.87 last week to $524.65 this week.  The decline continues... 
 
PPPC released its September Flash report for newsprint.  Please find the Flash report notes below and the September numbers attached in the file below:


Production at North American mills was 15.6% lower than in September of last year, resulting in an 82% operating rate. If we exclude the 130,000 tonnes of idled capacity at the Steilacoom WA mill, the North American operating rate would be 83%. 

Total North American newsprint shipments were down 15.4% year-over-year in September, largely the result of North American demand falling off by 15%. This drop in demand can be explained in part by consumers reducing their stock levels in September 2001. This explains why consumption figures registered a lower year-over-year decrease for the current month.

Shipments to overseas markets also suffered a decline, dropping almost 17% compared to the same month last year, as North American deliveries to Western Europe fell 41%. 

At the end of  September, North American mills saw their inventories decrease by 28,000 tonnes from the preceding month to 477,000 tonnes, and therefore back below their historical average. 

US dailies consumed 9.1% less newsprint than in September 2000, and total consumption in the US was down 9%. Many publishers reported a substantial increase in newsprint usage to cover the September 11th tragedy (additional sections, increased single-copy sales), especially in the week that immediately followed it. However, the increase in consumption seems in effect to have been offset by the wave of advertising cancellations in the aftermath of the attack. At the end of the month, US dailies stock levels were 84,000 tonnes lower than the preceding month. Thus US dailies stocks fell from 43 days of supply at the end of August to 38 days of supply at the end September. 

Ayesha