Chinese exports of paper, paperboard hit 3 million tonnes in first 10 months of 2009, down 4.9% year-over-year; value totals US$2.6B, down 9.0%

Jan 6, 2010 — ChinaPaperOnline.com

BEIJING, January 6, 2010 (ChinaPaperOnline.com) — During the first 10 months of 2009, China exported 2.99 million tonnes of paper and paperboard (not cut to length), slipping 4.9% year-over-year, based on data from China customs.

The rate of decline during the period narrowed to 1.8 percentage points compared to the first nine months. The export value totaled US$2.56 billion, dipping 9.0%, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than the rate of decline in the first nine months.

In the first 10 months of 2009, China exported 191,000 tonnes of newsprint, 44,000 tonnes of kraft paper and 8,610 tonnes of corrugating medium, slumping 40%, 67.7% and 92.1%, respectively, year-over-year.

China exported 2.024 million tonnes of coated paper, of which 1.118 million tonnes was premium coated paper, increasing 13.9% and 40.0%, respectively, year-over-year.

In the January-October 2009 period, Chinese exports of coated paper included 319,000 tonnes to the U.S., up 13.6%; 240,000 tonnes to the European Union (EU), surging 58.4%; 274,000 tonnes to Japan, a jump of 2.5 times; and 223,000 tonnes to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, dipping 10.5%.

Chinese exports of premium coated paper increased 4.2 times to Japan; were up 69.6% to the EU, to 167,000 tonnes; increased 57.1% to the U.S., to 168,000 tonnes; and fell 13.2% to ASEAN countries, to 101,000 tonnes.

Newsprint exports from China to India were down 26.5% to 104,000 tonnes; to ASEAN countries, down 71.1% to 14,000 tonnes; and to Malaysia, down 74.4%, to 9,210 tonnes.

China exports of kraft paper totaled 12,000 tonnes to ASEAN counties, down 69.6%; 13,000 tonnes to Iran, dipping 53.4%; and 2,587 tonnes to Japan, a surge of 3.4 times.

Chinese exports of corrugating medium were up 15 times to Japan, to 2,880 tonnes. They fell 74.8% to Ecuador, to 1,560 tonnes. China exported 823 tonnes to El Salvador.

Nanjing Port was the key port for paper product exports in China. During the first ten months of 2009, 1.173 million tonnes of paper products were exported through Nanjing Port, surging 23.1%. The export value was $880 million, jumping 11.4% year-over-year.

Shanghai Port and Qingdao Port ranked second and third place in exports of paper products, totaling $450 million and $360 million, respectively, dipping 19.2% and 30%, respectively, year-over-year.

Nanjing Port exported 98,600 tonnes of coated paper, up 38.5% year-over-year and accounted for 48.7% of China’s total coated paper exports. More than 80% of premium coated paper was imported through Nanjing Port, totaling 938,000 tonnes, which was up 40.2%.

Newsprint exported from Guangzhou Port totaled 109,000 tonnes, which was up 6.7% and accounted for 57% of China’s total newsprint exports.

Shenzhen Port was the main port for kraft paper exports, totaling 21,000 tonnes, which was down 68.1%.

From Nanjing Port, 3,445 tonnes of corrugating medium were exported and this was down 93.7% and accounted for 40% of all corrugating medium exported from China.

During the first 10 months, foreign-funded firms were the key driver for exports of paper products, accounting for 85.6% of China’s total paper product exports, totaling 2.561 million tonnes, which was down 1.9%.

Excluding newsprint and kraft paper, foreign-funded firms accounted for over 90% of China’s paper product exports during January-October 2009. In these grades, they exported 1.864 million tonnes, jumping 17% and representing 92.1% of the country’s total exports for these grades.

Foreign-funded firms exported 1.106 million tonnes of premium coated paper, up 41.4% and accounting for 99% of the country’s total premium coated paper exports.

For newsprint, foreign-funded firms exported 134,000 tonnes, which was down 37.8% and represented 69.3% of China’s total newsprint exports.

Kraft paper exports by foreign-funded firms in China totaled 28,000 tonnes, which was down 73.7% and represented 54.2% of all kraft paper exports from China.

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