Monthly Statistics on the North American Printing & Writing Papers Industry Printing and writing papers include all papers used to print published materials such as books, magazines, catalogues etc., as well as office papers such as forms, envelopes and reprographic papers. It excludes newsprint. Montréal, December 06, 2002 – The Pulp and Paper Products Council announced today that North American demand for printing and writing papers was 1.9% higher in October 2002 than it was a year ago, bringing the year-to-date figure to +0.5%. Production increased 1.4% year-over-year, but, for the first ten months, remained 1.1% lower than last year. Total North American shipments grew 2.0% in October but, to date, still showed a slight decline of 0.5%. As a result, the operating rate, measured by the shipment-to-capacity ratio, stood at 93% in October 2002 and 87% year-to-date compared to 89% last year. Mill inventories dropped by 73 000 tonnes from the end of September, to 2.193 million tonnes. The Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC) is a world leader in providing up-to-date, comprehensive market data and intelligence on global pulp and paper markets. The PPPC is an alliance of product associations serving an international membership which accounts for 70% of global market pulp capacity and more than 50% of world communication papers capacity (newsprint and printing & writing papers).