Thepulp and paper industry comprises companies that usewood, specificallypulpwood, as raw material and producepulp,paper,paperboard, and other cellulose-based products.
In the manufacturing process, pulp is introduced into a paper machine where it is shaped into a paper web and water is extracted through pressing and drying stages.
Pressing involves removing water from the sheet by applying force. This process employs a specialized type of felt, distinct from traditional felt, to absorb the water. In contrast, hand-made paper uses a blotter sheet for this purpose.Drying involves eliminating water from the paper sheets through air or heat. Historically, this was achieved by hanging the sheets to dry, similar to laundry. In modern papermaking, various heated drying mechanisms are employed, with the steam-heated can dryer being the most prevalent on paper machines.[1][2][3]
Papermaking as acraft is ancient, and for centuries it used various fibers, mainlygrasses (cerealstraws and others), orrags from old clothing made from them, in various preindustrial times and places. Thecommercial planting of domesticated mulberry trees to make pulp for papermaking is attested as early as the 6th century.[4] Due to advances in printing technology, the Chinese paper industry continued to grow under theSong dynasty to meet the rising demand for printed books. Demand for paper was also stimulated by the Song government, which needed a large supply of paper to printpaper money and exchange certificates.[5]
An example of an enterprisingpaper mill during the late phase of the preindustrial era is the mill byWilliam Rittenhouse and sons at what is now preserved asHistoric Rittenhouse Town in Pennsylvania.
The firstmechanized paper machine was installed atFrogmore Paper Mill,Apsley, Hertfordshire in 1803, followed by another in 1804.[6] The site operates currently as a museum.[7]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, thepaper chemical technologies for making thepulp fromwood rather than grasses underwent some majorindustrial-era upgrades, as first thesoda pulping process and then theKraft process helped reduce theunit cost of paper manufacture. This made paper newly abundant, and along with continual advancements inprinting press technologies, as well as intransport technologies (for distribution), during these same centuries, led to greatly increased sales andcirculation of newspapers, other periodicals, and books of every kind.
The pulp and paper industry has been criticized by environmental groups like theNatural Resources Defense Council for unsustainabledeforestation andclearcutting ofold-growth forest.[8] The industry trend is to expand globally to countries likeRussia,China andIndonesia with low wages and low environmental oversight.[9] According toGreenpeace, farmers inCentral America illegally rip up vast tracts of native forest for cattle andsoybean production without any consequences,[10] and companies who buy timber from private land owners contribute to massivedeforestation of the Amazon Rainforest.[11] On the other hand, the situation is quite different where forest growth has been on the increase for a number of years. It is estimated for instance that since 1990 forests have grown in Europe by 17 million hectares,[12] which has been supported through the practice of sustainable forest management by the industry. InSweden, for every tree that is felled, two are planted.[13]
The pulp and paper industry consumes a significant amount of water and energy and produces wastewater with a high concentration ofchemical oxygen demand (COD), among other contaminants.[14] Recent studies underline coagulation as an appropriate pre-treatment of pulp and paper industrial wastewater and as a cost-effective solution for the removal of COD and the reduction of pressures on the aquatic environment.[15]
The industry is dominated byNorth American (United States andCanada),northern European (Finland,Sweden, andNorth-West Russia) andEast Asian countries (such as East Siberian Russia,China,Japan, andSouth Korea).Australasia andBrazil also have significant pulp and paper enterprises. The industry also has a significant presence in a number of European countries including Germany, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. The United States had been the world's leading producer of paper until it was overtaken by China in 2009.[16]
According to data from Statista, China produced 110 million metric tons in 2018 followed by the US with 72 million.[17]
According to statistic data byRISI, main producing countries of paper and paperboard, not including pulp, in the world are as follows:[18]
| Rank 2011 | Country | Production in 2011 (1,000 ton) | Share (2011) | Rank (2010) | Production in 2010 (1,000 ton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China | 99,300 | 24.9% | 1 | 92,599 |
| 2 |  United States | 75,083 | 18.8% | 2 | 75,849 |
| 3 |  Japan | 26,627 | 6.7% | 3 | 27,288 |
| 4 |  Germany | 22,698 | 5.7% | 4 | 23,122 |
| 5 |  Canada | 12,112 | 3.0% | 5 | 12,787 |
| 6 |  South Korea | 11,492 | 2.9% | 8 | 11,120 |
| 7 |  Finland | 11,329 | 2.8% | 6 | 11,789 |
| 8 |  Sweden | 11,298 | 2.8% | 7 | 11,410 |
| 9 |  Brazil | 10,159 | 2.5% | 10 | 9,796 |
| 10 |  Indonesia | 10,035 | 2.5% | 9 | 9,951 |
| World Total | 398,975 | 100.0% | 394,244 |
The world's main paper and paperboard company groups are as follows. (Some figures are estimates.):[19]
| Rank | Company group | Country | Production in 2015 (1,000 ton) | Rank by sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Paper | United States | 23,315 | 1 |
| 2 | Nine Dragon Paper Holdings | China | 12,630 | 2 |
| 3 | WestRock | United States | 12,487 | 4 |
| 4 | UPM | Finland | 9,771 | 5 |
| 5 | Stora Enso | Finland | 9,188 | 8 |
| 6 | Oji Paper Company | Japan | 9,115 | 3 |
| 7 | Sappi |  South Africa | 7,306 | 15 |
| 8 | Smurfit Kappa |  Ireland | 7,000 | 9 |
| 9 | DS Smith |  United Kingdom | 6,802 | 13 |
| 10 | Nippon Paper | Japan | 6,542 | 11 |
In 2008, the top 10 forest, paper and packaging products companies were, according to a report byPricewaterhouseCoopers:[20]
| Rank | Company | Country | 2008 net sales (US$M) | 2008 net income (loss) (US$M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Paper |  United States | 24,829 | (1,282) |
| 2 | Kimberly-Clark | United States | 19,415 | 1,690 |
| 3 | SCA | Sweden | 16,965 (SEK) | 857 |
| 4 | Stora Enso | Finland | 16,227 | (991) |
| 5 | UPM | Finland | 13,920 | (263) |
| 6 | Oji Paper | Japan | 12,788 | 114 |
| 7 | Nippon Unipac | Japan | 11,753 | 55 |
| 8 | Smurfit Kappa | Ireland | 10,390 | (73) |
| 9 | Metsä Group | Finland | 9,335 | (313) |
| 10 | Mondi | UK/South Africa | 9,466 | (310) |
Leading manufacturers ofcapital equipment with over $1 billion in annual revenue for the pulp and paper industry include:
| History |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of paper |
| ||||||||
| Materials | |||||||||
| Specifications | |||||||||
| Manufacture and process | |||||||||
| Paper industry | |||||||||
| Uses | |||||||||
Majorindustries byeconomic sector | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
