European paper and board production is said to have declined in 2023, with a preliminary statistics report from Cepi attributing the development to energy costs remaining high, a poor economic environment, and destocking. Consumption is said to have fallen by 15.3% as mid-term global economic trends lowered demand for paper and board and increased destocking. Production was also said to have contracted for the second year in a row and decreased by 12.8%. …However, in the context of globalized low demand, both imports and exports are said to have diminished equally. Pulp and paper trade balance is also said to remain ‘by far positive’ in Europe and is named as one of the EU’s top manufacturing sectors in this area. Still, with consumption decreasing by 12.2%, packaging and paper board production has continued to fall.