SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2001 (paperloop.com) - Worldwide chemical paper-grade market pulp producer inventories declined 66,000 tonnes in August from the prior month, according to preliminary data from the Pulp and Paper Products Council in Montreal. August marked the sixth month in a row that world inventories had fallen as producers dropped their stocks 1.9 percent from opening levels. 
World producer stocks closed August at 3.402 million tonnes, representing 37 days of supply, a day less than July results. Producer inventory levels are 33.3 percent higher than year-ago figures, when world producers held 28 days of supply. Although stocks are still high on a year-over-year basis, recent results still represented a strong improvement. Back in June, world producer stocks were 74.8 percent higher than the same period last year. 
August production of 2.683 million tonnes declined 2.3 percent from last month and tumbled 10.3 percent vs. year-ago results of 2.992 million tonnes. Global shipments totaled 2.750 million tonnes, dipping 1.9 percent from the 2.698 million tonnes recorded in August of last year. 
Producers operated at 88 percent of capacity in August, the same rate as both June and July of this year. That compared to world producers' year-ago operating rate of 103 percent. Meanwhile, the shipment-to-capacity ratio, considered an indicator of producer discipline, advanced 2 points from the prior month to 90 percent, PPPC reported. 
World inventory figures include totals from North America, Nordic countries, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and Swaziland. Countries that do not report inventories include Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand. 
World producers shifted 26,000 tonnes between the close of July and last month's opening inventories.