In recent years, the Internet and new media in my country have developed vigorously, which has had an unprecedented impact on the production and consumption of newsprint.
The consumption of newsprint in my country has dropped sharply from a peak of 4.61 million tons in 2009 to 3.21 million tons in 2014. The net reduction was 1.4 million tons, a decrease of 39%, and this trend will continue. Calculated at this rate of decline, by 2020, the annual demand for newsprint in my country will be reduced to 2.4 million tons. However, the development speed of new media is often beyond people's imagination. If we make a bold estimate (the consumption of newsprint in the United States has decreased by 2/3 in the past 15 years), by 2020, the annual demand for newsprint in my country may be less than 1 million tons.
In sharp contrast to the shrinking demand for newsprint in the world, the consumption of household paper in various countries in the world continues to grow, showing a prosperous scene. Tissue paper is different from other paper products and is directly related to the level of economic development of a country and the increase in national income. In the past 50 years, the consumption of household paper in the world has increased year by year, and its continuous growth trend has never stopped. In 1964, the total consumption of household paper in the world was 3.02 million tons, and by 2014 it reached 31.9 million tons, with an average annual growth rate of 4.8%.
my country's newsprint production capacity is basically a modern production line developed in the past 10 years, with advanced equipment and systems, and it is far from the payback period. For this part of the production capacity, we should make early plans and consider using existing production equipment to transform the production of special printing paper and paper products, or other paper products that are in short supply in other markets, to avoid the fate of the closure of newsprint mills in developed countries such as the United States. This year, a Chinese newsprint manufacturer has successfully transformed the original 400,000 tons newsprint production system to produce high-end corrugated paper, which provides a good example for the transformation of newsprint production capacity. In line with the implementation of my country's "One Belt, One Road" strategy, "going out" may be another option for my country to digest the excess capacity of newsprint and regain its vitality.
