Spain’s paperboard industry retains growth track

Spain’s paperboard industry retains growth track
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Paper and board production in Spain grew by 1.1 percent in the January-April 2020 timeframe compared with the first four months of 2019, according to Madrid-based association ASPAPEL.

With recovered fiber accounting for 71 percent of all raw materials used by the Spanish paper industry, the ongoing health of the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic has helped keep demand strong for European scrap paper.

By type of paper, the greatest increase in the first four months of 2020 was for corrugated case materials, says ASPAPEL, “the production of which has grown by 8.9 percent.” Tissue production rose by 1.6 percent in the first quarter, “with a peak increase of 11.4 percent in April,” says the association. The production of cartonboard increased by 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020.

“The existence of a strong national paper industry has enabled demand for essential products to be met and shortages avoided during the pandemic,” says Jordi Mercader, president of ASPAPEL. “Products such as personal hygiene and sanitary papers, packaging for food, drinks or pharmaceuticals, and graphic papers for communications, information, leisure and culture, among others made by the Spanish paper industry” all have been produced throughout the pandemic by ASPAPEL members, says the association head.

The association also released paper output and paper recycling figures for 2019. ASPAPEL says more than 4.4 million tons of paper and board were collected for recycling in Spain in 2019. The nation’s collection rate (paper collected for recycling as a percentage of total paper consumed) was 64.3 percent last year.

Spanish paper mills consumed more than 5.1 million tons of scrap paper in 2019, an increase of 5.3 percent compared with the previous year. Spain was a net importer of some 700,000 tons of recovered fiber in 2019.

Spain’s recovered fiber utilization rate (paper recycled as raw material in paper mills as a percentage of total paper and board consumed) was 75 percent in 2019, which ASPAPEL says is four percentage points higher than in 2018. “Spain is the third most active recycling country in volume terms in the European Union, surpassed only by Germany and France, and practically on a par with Italy,” states ASPAPEL.

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Source: Recycling Today
Spain’s paperboard industry retains growth track
<![CDATA[Paper and board production in Spain grew by 1.1 percent in the January-April 2020 timeframe compared with the first four months of 2019, according to Madrid-based association ASPAPEL.With recovered fiber accounting for 71 percent of all raw materials used by the Spanish paper industry, the ongoing health of the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic has helped keep demand strong for European scrap paper.By type of paper, the greatest increase in the first four months of 2020 was for corrugated case materials, says ASPAPEL, “the production of which has grown by 8.9 percent.” Tissue production rose by 1.6 percent in the first quarter, “with a peak increase of 11.4 percent in April,” says the association. The production of cartonboard increased by 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020.“The existence of a strong national paper industry has enabled demand for essential products to be met and shortages avoided during the pandemic,” says Jordi Mercader, president of ASPAPEL. “Products such as personal hygiene and sanitary papers, packaging for food, drinks or pharmaceuticals, and graphic papers for communications, information, leisure and culture, among others made by the Spanish paper industry” all have been produced throughout the pandemic by ASPAPEL members, says the association…