Paper and paperboard production volume
The total global paper and paperboard production in 2022 will be 419.90 million tons, which is 1.0% lower than the 424.07 million tons in 2021. The production volume of the main varieties is 11.87 million tons of newsprint, a year-on-year decrease of 4.1% from 12.38 million tons in 2021; printing and writing paper 79.16 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.1% from 80.47 million tons in 2021. 1%; household paper 44.38 million tons, an increase of 3.0% from 43.07 million tons in 2021; corrugated materials (corrugated base paper and container board) 188.77 million tons, a decrease of 2.8% from 194.18 million tons in 2021; Other packaging paper and cardboard were 86.18 million tons, an increase of 2.4% from 84.16 million tons in 2021. In terms of product structure, newsprint accounts for 2.8%, printing and writing paper accounts for 18.9%, household paper accounts for 10.6%, corrugated materials account for 45.0%, and other packaging paper and cardboard account for 20.5%. The proportion of newsprint and printing and writing paper in the total production of paper and paperboard has been declining for many years. The proportion of newsprint and printing and writing paper in 2022 has both decreased by 0.1 percentage points compared with 2021; the proportion of corrugated materials has decreased by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2021; and the proportion of household paper has increased by 0.4 percentage points in 2022 compared with 2021.

In 2022, global paper and paperboard production will still be the highest in Asia, followed by Europe and North America in third place, with production volumes of 203.75 million tons, 103.62 million tons and 75.58 million tons respectively, accounting for 48.5%, 24.7% and 18.0% of the total global paper and paperboard production of 419.90 million tons respectively. The production volume of paper and paperboard in Asia will increase by 1.5% in 2022 compared with 2021, while the production volume of paper and paperboard in Europe and North America will decrease compared with 2021, by 5.3% and 2.9% respectively.

In 2022, China’s paper and paperboard production volume ranks first, with the United States ranking second and Japan ranking third, with production volumes of 124.25 million tons, 66.93 million tons, and 23.67 million tons respectively. Compared with 2021, China has increased by 2.64%, and the United States and Japan have decreased by 3.2% and 1.1% respectively. The production of paper and paperboard in these three countries accounts for 29.6%, 16.6% and 5.6% respectively of the total production of paper and paperboard in the world. The total production of paper and paperboard in these three countries accounts for about 50.8% of the total production of paper and paperboard in the world. China’s total paper and paperboard production will account for 29.3% of the world’s total paper and paperboard production from 15.3% in 2005, accounting for close to 30% of the world’s total paper and paperboard production.

Among the top 10 countries in paper and paperboard production in 2022, the only countries with growth in paper and paperboard production are China, India and Brazil. All other countries have experienced declines, with Italy and Germany experiencing particularly significant declines, with a decrease of 8.7% and 6.5% respectively.

Paper and paperboard consumption
The global apparent consumption of paper and paperboard in 2022 is 423.83 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2% from 428.99 million tons in 2021, and the global per capita apparent consumption is 53.6kg. Among the regions in the world, North America has the highest per capita apparent consumption at 191.8kg, followed by Europe and Oceania, with 112.0 and 89.9kg respectively. The apparent per capita consumption in Asia is 47.3kg, in Latin America it is 46.7kg, and in Africa it is only 7.2kg.
Among countries in the world in 2022, China has the highest apparent consumption of paper and cardboard at 124.03 million tons; followed by the United States at 66.48 million tons; and Japan again at 22.81 million tons. The per capita apparent consumption of these three countries is 87.8, 198.2 and 183.6 kg respectively.

There are 7 countries with apparent consumption of paper and cardboard exceeding 10 million tons in 2022. Compared with 2021, among the top 10 countries with apparent consumption of paper and paperboard in 2022, only India, Italy, and Mexico have seen an increase in apparent consumption of paper and paperboard, with India having the largest increase of 10.3%.

Pulp production and consumption
The total global pulp production in 2022 will be 181.76 million tons, a decrease of 0.5% from 182.76 million tons in 2021. Among them, the production volume of chemical pulp was 142.16 million tons, a decrease of 0.6% from 143.05 million tons in 2021; the production volume of mechanical pulp was 25.33 million tons, an increase of 0.5% from 25.2 million tons in 2021; the production volume of semi-chemical mechanical pulp was 5.21 million tons, a decrease of 6.2% from the 5.56 million tons in 2021. The total pulp production in North America is 54.17 million tons, a decrease of 5.2% from 57.16 million tons in 2021. The total pulp production in North America accounts for 31.4% of the total global pulp production. The total pulp production in Europe and Asia was 43.69 million tons and 47.34 million tons respectively, accounting for 24.0% and 26.0% of the total global wood pulp production respectively. Global mechanical pulp production is concentrated in Asia, Europe, and North America, with their production volumes being 9.42 million tons, 7.85 million tons, and 6.24 million tons respectively. The total mechanical pulp production in these three regions accounts for 92.8% of the total global mechanical pulp production.

Global non-wood pulp production in 2022 will be 9.06 million tons, an increase of 1.2% from 8.95 million tons in 2021. Among them, Asia’s non-wood pulp production was 7.82 million tons.
In 2022, the United States, Brazil and China are the three countries with the largest pulp production. Their total pulp production is 40.77 million tons, 24.52 million tons and 21.15 million tons respectively.

All the top 10 countries in 2021 have been shortlisted for the top 10 in 2022. Among the 10 countries, China and Brazil have experienced larger increases in pulp production, with increases of 16.9% and 8.7% respectively; Finland, Russia, and the United States have experienced larger declines, with increases of 13.7%, 5.8%, and 5.3% respectively.

Our company provides chemical additives for paper industry, such as wet strength agent, softener, antifoam agent, dry strength agent, PAM, EDTA 2Na,EDTA 4Na, DTPA 5NA, OBA, etc.

The next article will provide an overview of global paper trade.

Reference: China Paper Industry 2022 Annual Report