René Muschter
Research Expert für Internationale Länderdaten
Canadian pulp and paper industry - statistics & facts
The Canadian pulp and paper industry is a key part of the country's manufacturing sector, employing thousands of Canadians and contributing significantly to the country's economy. The industry is spread across all provinces, with a higher concentration in British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario, which are rich in forest resources. In 2021, the real gross domestic product (GDP) contribution of the pulp and paper product manufacturing industry in Canada amounted to 6.7 billion Canadian dollars. As of 2022, Canada was the world's tenth leading producer of paper and paperboard. The country's production volume reached 8.9 million metric tons that year, while the production capacity for paper and paperboard amounted to 9.35 million metric tons. However, it is projected that Canada's paper and paperboard production capacity will drop to some 9.2 million metric tons in 2024.
Consumption and export trends in Canada’s pulp and paper industry
Although a slight increase in the consumption of wood pulp, a primary raw material for paper production, was observed in 2021, Canada's domestic consumption of wood pulp has seen a net decline over the past decade. It dropped from 9.45 million metric tons in 2010 to 6.64 million metric tons in 2021. In 2021, Canada consumed around 937 thousand metric tons of printing and writing paper, a notable decrease from the consumption level of approximately 1.74 million metric tons in 2010. Despite this reduction in consumption, the export value of pulp and paper products showed a more positive trends, with approximately 15.4 billion dollars of pulp and paper products exported from Canada in 2022, an increase from about 12.8 billion the previous year.Key players in the Canadian pulp and paper industry
The pulp and paper industry in Canada is dominated by several key companies. Resolute Forest Products and Cascades are among the top companies in the industry. Resolute Forest Products produces a wide array of forest products such as newsprint, specialty papers, tissue, wood products, and market pulp. In the 2022 financial year, the company reported a revenue of 3.79 billion U.S. dollars, representing an increase from a revenue of 3.66 million U.S. dollars in 2021. Cascades is another Canadian company that specializes in packaging and tissue products, which reported a revenue of 4.47 billion Canadian dollars for the year ending December 31, 2022.
