AF&PA Releases Paper Industry Capacity, Fiber Consumption Report The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) re- leased the 61st Paper Industry Capacity and Fiber Con- sumption Report, indicating overall U.S. paper and paper- board capacity declined 1.6 percent in 2020, compared to the average decline of 1.1 percent per year since 2011. Notably in 2020, containerboard capacity expanded, continuing a decade-long trend, and reaching a record high of 40.4 million tons. Tissue paper capacity has also been trending upward, increasing for the past five years, as well as eight of the last 10 years. Meanwhile, U.S. mill consumption of recovered fiber reached the second-highest level in the past decade. The increase was driven by mill consumption of corrugated, the largest grade of recovered fiber, which reached a re- cord high of 22.8 million tons in 2020. Boxboard was the only packaging grade to decline last year, however survey responses indicate a slight rebound in 2021. Experiencing continued secular decline from displace- ment by electronic communication, capacity for newsprint and printing-writing papers decreased in 2020, with ca- pacity for both grades declining in the past decade. Some machines that historically produced printing-writing pa- pers have been and are being repurposed to produce containerboard and packaging paper.
Survey responses indicate total paper and paperboard capacity will remain essentially flat, decreasing less than one-half of one percent in 2021. The survey reports U.S. industry capacity data for 2020 and 2021 for all major grades of paper, paperboard and pulp, as well as fiber consumption, based on a compre- hensive survey of all U.S. pulp and paper mills. Survey data includes responses from companies representing more than 86 percent of U.S. paper and paperboard industry ca- pacity, with estimates completing the data set. Zimmerman Joins EFI As VP, General Manager Todd Zimmerman has joined Electronics For Imaging, Inc. as its new Vice President and General Manager, Display Graphics. He comes to EFI from Fujifilm USA, where he spent a decade and a half in a variety of executive roles, most recently as division president and corporate VP of Fujifilm Global Graphic Systems. Zimmerman will be based in Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, home to EFI’s Display Graphics Customer Expe- rience Center for the Americas. He will report to Scott Schinlever, Chief Operating Officer, EFI Inkjet, who has responsibility for EFI’s collective inkjet activities across the display graphics, packaging, textile and building materials markets.
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May 31, 2021
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