Mar 22, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. After a difficult year, during which the industry encountered more down-time and capacity closures as a result of the weakened global economy the indications are that CEPI member countries produced less than 90 million tonnes of paper and board in 2009, the lowest annual total production since 2001. This represents a fall in the region of around 11% over 2008, which is slightly better than the European manufacturing industry taken as a whole, according to data from the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI). It would appear that the overall output performance of the CEPI countries in total during 2009 is much the same as that of the other major paper producing regions of the world. Quarterly production levels for the first three quarters of 2009 were much lower than in the previous year. However, the final quarter is expected to record a still low but similar level of production as in the same quarter of 2008, approaching 23 million tonnes. The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit making organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing this industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. CEPI members are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.