39th Annual AF&PA Capacity Survey.(American Forest and Paper Association)

U.S. industry capacity growth at ali-time low

U.S. capacity growth for pulp, paper and paperboard during the next three years is expected to be the slowest of any three-year period on record, according to the 39th Annual Survey of the U.S. paper industry's plans, which was released by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) on December 8. Production capacity of printing and writing grades is projected to rise by only 0.8% per year and that for containerboard by just 0.7% annually, as the world's largest papermaking nation adds a mere 2.86 million tons for the three-year period from 1999 to 2001.

And it's possible that production availability during next three years could be even lower than that, AF&PA says, because numerous mills have announced permanent closures or are mothballing capacity for indefinite periods. Those operations are still counted in the capacity survey because they have not been closed for one year, dismantled or scheduled for dismantling.

The projected yearly overall …