European pulp and paper production last year continued to be affected by the economic slowdown which began in mid-2011, according to CEPI's latest industry statistics. The overall output performance of all CEPI member countries last year was similar to that of other major traditional paper producing world regions. Only China and Brazil performed better.
CEPI members produced 92.1 million tonnes of paper and board in 2012 - a decrease of 1.6% over 2011. The pre-crisis production in 2008 totalled 97.9 million tonnes. Pulp production fell by 1.0% while the output of market pulp increased by 4.3%.
Exports of paper and board outside Europe showed an increase by 5.3%, while imports fell by 9.7% compared with 2011. The overall consumption of paper and board in CEPI fell by 3.8% last year.
