Dec 07, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. The CEO of newsprint leader Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. John Weaver said another newsprint price increase is to be expected in 2006 as the struggling paper industry starts to improve thanks to a better alignment of supply and demand. Abitibi-Consolidated is now dominant enough that it can affect the overall prices by reducing its own capacity, Mr. Weaver said at an industry conference. He said there have been seven newsprint price increases in a row now, and prices are close to what the industry calls trendline pricing. Even though newsprint demand has slowly dropped in North America in recent years, the industry has responded by shutting capacity or converting it to a similar paper grade called uncoated groundwood, used, for example, in advertising flyers inserted in newspapers. Newsprint production capacity at Montreal-based Abitibi-Consolidated has dropped to about 1.1 million tonnes a year from 1.4 million tonnes at the start of 1999, Mr. Weaver said. Besides prices rising for the commodity, "North American inventories are significantly lower for newsprint," Mr. Weaver said, which is contributing to the stronger prices.