Spain’s paper industry recovering
(Barcelona, August 18, 2016) Spain’s paper industry is recovering. According to the Spanish Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers (As Papel), paper production as well as consumption in the country went up in 2015 compared to 2014. Packaging papers were especially sought-after.
“2015 is the business year when Spain’s paper industry has begun to recover”, writes Aspapel in its report on the development of the paper industry last year. Paper and board output in the country in 2015 grew year-on-year by 2.6%.
The figure is highest among the six largest paper-producing countries in Europe, Aspapel said, observing that output growth was lower in Germany (+0.3%) and Italy (+2.2%) while production receded in Sweden (-5%), Finland (-0.9%) and France (-1.4%).
Year-on-year growth was highest in the specialty and sanitary paper segments where production rose by 15.3% and 9.2% respectively.
Output growth in the country was not sufficient to meet the increase in domestic demand. The association reports that a total of 6.6 million t of paper were consumed in 2015, 5.6% more than in the previous year. Spain is the fifth largest paper consumer in the EU behind Germany, Italy, the UK and France. (Source: press release)
