Environmental Aspects of China’s Papermaking Fiber Supply
By Brian Stafford - Brian Stafford & Associates Pty Ltd:, Forest Trends View PublicationIn recent years, China’s expanding pulp and paper sector has become a major influence on the global forests and forest product markets. Since 1990, China has accounted for over 50 per cent the world’s overall growth in paper and paperboard production. To meet growing domestic demand, the government is promoting a new industry based on large, high-tech mills which process wood pulp into paper.
This study employs trade data to outline the structure of all of China’s papermaking inputs: virgin pulp, pulpwood, and wastepaper, both domestic and imported. It is estimated that the country’s total papermaking fiber resources have increased from 46.9 Mt to 59.7 Mt over the four years since 2002 – an annual average rate of 6.2% pa.