Paper and board manufacturing in Sweden decreased by 0.9 percent to just below 11.3 million tons 2011. Market pulp production also decreased by 0.9 percent from 2010 to 3.7 million tons.2011 got off to a good start, but then production slowed down, as the general financial situation of many export markets weakened, the Swedish Forest Industries Federation (Skogsindustrierna) writes.Still, last year's production figures appear more positive than they actually were, according to Skogsindustrierna, as production in 2010 was limited due to a conflict during the spring 2010 between Skogsindustrierna and the Swedish paper workers' union Pappers over a new collective agreement. Had the strike 2010 not occurred, Swedish pulp production in 2011 would have showed a 1.5 percent decrease, and paper and board production would have been down by two percent.The total Swedish exports of market pulp went down by four percent to just under 3.1 million tons in 2011 compared to 2010. Deliveries of chemical pulp to the EU, excluding the Nordic countries, dropped by nine percent to two million tons as a result of lower paper production in the EU.Exports to Asia rose however, and Sweden saw China become its third single biggest pulp export market. Total shipments of chemical pulp to Asia jumped by almost 33 percent to 486,000 tons last year.Swedish exports of paper and board to the EU decreased by three percent. Deliveries to Sweden's single biggest export country, Germany, remained flat at two million tons.The total production of graphic papers in Sweden decreased marginally. Newsprint volumes fell by 2.2 percent to 2.1 million tons, while manufacturing of mechanical paper rose by 2.5 percent to 2.0 million tons.