Industry consumption of recovered paper in the United States for September fell 7 percent compared with a year ago, according to a new report.

Total consumption for the month reached 2.46 million tons, which also was 4 percent lower than August 2011, according to a monthly report by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA).  The association said the decrease occurred with all grades of recovered paper but most noticeably with pulp substitutes at 10 percent.

Overall, the year-to-date decline in consumption compared to 2010 stands at about 4 percent.  

Conversely, inventories advanced to their highest levels for this year, led by a 12 percent jump in mixed inventories, the association said in a news release.

“The economy continues to have an effect on our industry,” said Jessica McFaul, press secretary for the AF&PA, in an e-mail. “However it appears the primary driver for the overall change in recovery rate is with newsprint. There are simply fewer newspapers available for recovery today versus this time last year.”

U.S. exports of recovered paper rose slightly in August compared to July.  Year-to-date exports in 2011 continue to be 14 percent higher than last year by volume.  Despite growing imports and decreasing consumption, estimated year-to-date recovery (consumption + exports – imports) climbed 2.6 percent from the same period last year, fueled by consistently strong exports of recovered paper, the AF&PA said.

 AF&PA members can access the full report on the AF&PA StatMill web site in the Recovered Paper section.