The total production of paper and board production was 91 million tonnes in 2016 in CEPI countries, a decrease of 0.1%. The world paper and board production is estimated to reach 410 million tonnes, an increase of 0.8%.

The production of packaging grades is estimated to have increased by around 2.3% compared to 2015. Within the packaging grades, case materials - mainly used for transport packaging and corrugated boxes - recorded an increase in production of 2.2%

Sanitary and household manufacturers are estimated to have seen an increase in output of about 1.8% compared to 2015 and accounted for 8.1% of total production.

Weak printing and publishing activities continue to have an impact on the overall production of graphic grades, which fell by around 3.7%. Output of newsprint - used mainly for daily newspapers - is expected to fall around 6.4%.

Preliminary indications are that imports of paper and board into Europe have increased by around 6% compared to 2015.

It is estimated that the production of pulp (integrated + market) has increased by 0.7% compared to the previous year, with total output of approximately 36.6 million tonnes

The final statistics will be published by CEPI in July.