Jan 29, 2009. /Lesprom.com/. Czech paper and cardboard output has decreased by 8% year-on-year to 716,378 tonnes in Q1-Q3 2008, with the output of pulp dropping by 9% and of paper products by 1%, Lesprom Network said according to the Association of the Czech Pulp and Paper Industry (ACPP). The paper and cardboard output had been growing for seven years in a row until 2006 and was flat in 2007. Experts say the paper output in Q3 was negatively affected by the wind-up of the paper mill in Steti, north Bohemia. The owner Norske Skog halted production in Steti in May. The Steti plant, which specialised in newsprint production, had a dominant position in the Czech Republic in this field. "Shutting down Norske Skog's facility in Steti means production will decrease by 55 thousand tonnes in H2," Jaroslav Tauc of the ACPP said. Export dropped in general, with hygiene paper export showing the biggest drop of two-thirds in a year-on-year comparison, while export of paper products grew by a fourth and export of scrap paper increased by a third. Import of paper and cardboard dropped by 3% on the year, while import of other commodities grew, mostly of paper products, by 62%. Continuing decline in the Czech paper mill production will most probably show in the next quarter too. The economic downturn in many sectors directly leads to lower demand for cardboard, cartons and packaging material, ACPP President Ivo Klimsa said. The Czech paper industry mostly produces packaging and technical papers, out of which over 80% goes for export. Moreover, the paper producer Papirny Bela, central Bohemia, stopped producing folding box cartons in Q3, which means a loss of around 24 thousand tonnes of paper a year. As of December, the paper producer Olsanske papirny, northern Moravia, whose output was 75 thousand tonnes of paper a year, is in the insolvency proceedings and is not producing, Tauc said. According to the ACPP estimate, about 9 thousand people are employed in the paper industry in the Czech Republic. Because of the crisis, some firms have had to limit production but massive layoffs have not been announced yet, Tauc said.