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