Pulp and paper industry in the United States

The United States is one of the biggest consumers of paper in the world. Between 1990 and 2002, paper consumption in the United States increased from 84.9 million tons to 97.3 million tons.

U.S. Pulp and Paper Manufacturing Statistics, 2001
	Number of employees	Total payroll ($1,000)	Total cost of materials ($1,000)	Total cost of shipments ($1,000)
Pulp mills	7,218	414 452	1 847 086	3 238 832
Paper mills	114 670	6 162 914	22 108 471	46 852 538
Paperboard mills	48 773	2 601 324	10 915 434	21 895 908
Source: 2001 Annual Survey of Manufacturers (ASM) [1]

Leading Companies

According to the 2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Forest & Paper Industry Survey [1], the top 20 forest and paper products companies in the United States were:

Rank	Company	2002 Net Sales (US$M)	2002 Net Income (Loss) (US$M)
1	International Paper	24,976	(880)
2	Georgia-Pacific	23,271	(735)
3	Weyerhaeuser	16,771	16
4	Kimberly-Clark	13,566	1,675
5	Procter & Gamble (Paper)	11,877	954
6	Smurfit-Stone	7,483	65
7	Boise	7,412	11
8	MeadWestvaco	7,242	(389)
9	Temple-Inland	3,374	53
10	Sonoco	2,812	135
11	Bowater	2,581	(142)
12	Louisiana-Pacific	1,943	(62)
13	Packaging Corp. of America	1,736	48
14	Universal Forest Products	1,640	37
15	Rock-Tenn	1,437	27
16	Potlatch	1,286	(234)
17	Riverwood	1,247	(11)
18	Plum Creek	1,137	233
19	Rayonier	1,117	54
20	Caraustar	950	(18)

Exports

U.S. Total Pulp and Paper Exports (US$ million) [1]
Product	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Pulp, Paper & Paperboard Mill Products	9,752	8,947	8,850	10,276	8,849	7,809
Converted Paper Products	4,842	4,873	5,281	5,702	5,647	6,299

External Links

• American Forest and Paper Association
• EPA profile of the pulp and paper industry