European paper and board production for the second quarter of 2001 fell by only 60,000 tonnes to 22.23m tonnes, according to statistics from the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI).

Total pulp production for the quarter was down only 0.3% on the same period last year to 9.3m tonnes.

Although production in the second quarter of 2001 was marginally down on the same period last year, the high production levels of the past 18 months were maintained.

Production only slightly fluctuated across most grades, apart from coated woodfree, which showed the largest fall 10.8% due to falling orders and machine downtime across Europe.

Graphic papers output dropped by only 1% to just below 11m tonnes, but newsprint production grew by 8.7% to 2.7m tonnes.

Production of uncoated woodfree grades fell by 1.7% to 2.4m tonnes, but uncoated mechanical grade output rose by 3.1% to 1.5m tonnes.

Coated mechanical production fell by 3.6% to just over 2m tonnes, while coated woodfree production dropped 10.8% to 2.1m tonnes.

The trend is likely to be reflected in the figures for the end of the year, especially given the impact of recent events in the US.

Story by Andy Scott