Paper Market Forecast — Outlook Turns Bearish

Overall, capacity for printing/writing paper declined by 0.6 percent in 2003, AF&PA reports. Among the four major grades, only coated groundwood has registered an increase in capacity since 2000, growing by 2.6 percent.

Among the specific findings derived from the survey data were:

* Uncoated groundwood capacity fell to less than 1.9 million tons, or almost 20 percent below its 1996 peak level. Capacity for this grade is expected to rise about 2.3 percent in 2004, and then remain unchanged in 2005 and 2006.