Publications Papers Down

So far, for the month of March, publication coated groundwood grades fell $40/ton to $880/ton. Many buyers report discounts of $60/ton. Consumption continues to be depressed - both magazine and catalogue demand are down. We understand shipments in February were down 36.5% vs. February 2008. Printers such as RRDonnelly and Quad have shuttered presses. Paper manufactures continue managing downtime to avoid more aggressive price deterioration. Veros/100,000tons NewPage/150,000tons; AbitibiBowater/14,000 tons.