were more than offset by higher raw material and energy costs ( $ 312 million ) , increased market related downtime ( $ 187 million ) and other items ( $ 30 million ) . com- pared with 2003 , higher 2005 earnings in the brazilian papers , u.s . coated papers and u.s . market pulp busi- nesses were offset by lower earnings in the u.s . un- coated papers and the european papers businesses . the printing papers segment took 995000 tons of downtime in 2005 , including 540000 tons of lack-of-order down- time to align production with customer demand . this compared with 525000 tons of downtime in 2004 , of which 65000 tons related to lack-of-orders . printing papers in millions 2005 2004 2003 .
what was the printing papers profit margin in 2003
uncoated papers sales totaled $ 4.8 billion in 2005 compared with $ 5.0 billion in 2004 and 2003 . sales price realizations in the united states averaged 4.4% ( 4.4 % ) higher in 2005 than in 2004 , and 4.6% ( 4.6 % ) higher than 2003 . favorable pricing momentum which began in 2004 carried over into the beginning of 2005 . demand , however , began to weaken across all grades as the year progressed , resulting in lower price realizations in the second and third quarters . however , prices stabilized as the year ended . total shipments for the year were 7.2% ( 7.2 % ) lower than in 2004 and 4.2% ( 4.2 % ) lower than in 2003 . to continue matching our productive capacity with customer demand , the business announced the perma- nent closure of three uncoated freesheet machines and took significant lack-of-order downtime during the period . demand showed some improvement toward the end of the year , bolstered by the introduction our new line of vision innovation paper products ( vip technologiestm ) , with improved brightness and white- ness . mill operations were favorable compared to last year , and the rebuild of the no . 1 machine at the east- over , south carolina mill was completed as planned in the fourth quarter . however , the favorable impacts of improved mill operations and lower overhead costs were more than offset by record high input costs for energy and wood and higher transportation costs compared to 2004 . the earnings decline in 2005 compared with 2003 was principally due to lower shipments , higher down- time and increased costs for wood , energy and trans- portation , partially offset by lower overhead costs and favorable mill operations . average sales price realizations for our european operations remained relatively stable during 2005 , but averaged 1% ( 1 % ) lower than in 2004 , and 6% ( 6 % ) below 2003 levels . sales volumes rose slightly , up 1% ( 1 % ) in 2005 com- pared with 2004 and 5% ( 5 % ) compared to 2003 . earnings were lower than in 2004 , reflecting higher wood and energy costs and a compression of margins due to un- favorable foreign currency exchange movements . earn- ings were also adversely affected by downtime related to the rebuild of three paper machines during the year . coated papers sales in the united states were $ 1.6 bil- lion in 2005 , compared with $ 1.4 billion in 2004 and $ 1.3 billion in 2003 . the business reported an operating profit in 2005 versus a small operating loss in 2004 . the earnings improvement was driven by higher average sales prices and improved mill operations . price realiza- tions in 2005 averaged 13% ( 13 % ) higher than 2004 . higher input costs for raw materials and energy partially offset the benefits from improved prices and operations . sales volumes were about 1% ( 1 % ) lower in 2005 versus 2004 . market pulp sales from our u.s . and european facilities totaled $ 757 million in 2005 compared with $ 661 mil- lion and $ 571 million in 2004 and 2003 , respectively . operating profits in 2005 were up 86% ( 86 % ) from 2004 . an operating loss had been reported in 2003 . higher aver- age prices and sales volumes , lower overhead costs and improved mill operations in 2005 more than offset in- creases in raw material , energy and chemical costs . u.s . softwood and hardwood pulp prices improved through the 2005 first and second quarters , then declined during the third quarter , but recovered somewhat toward year end . softwood pulp prices ended the year about 2% ( 2 % ) lower than 2004 , but were 15% ( 15 % ) higher than 2003 , while hardwood pulp prices ended the year about 15% ( 15 % ) higher than 2004 and 10% ( 10 % ) higher than 2003 . u.s . pulp sales volumes were 12% ( 12 % ) higher than in 2004 and 19% ( 19 % ) higher than in 2003 , reflecting increased global demand . euro- pean pulp volumes increased 15% ( 15 % ) and 2% ( 2 % ) compared with 2004 and 2003 , respectively , while average sales prices increased 4% ( 4 % ) and 11% ( 11 % ) compared with 2004 and 2003 , respectively . brazilian paper sales were $ 684 million in 2005 com- pared with $ 592 million in 2004 and $ 540 million in 2003 . sales volumes for uncoated freesheet paper , coated paper and wood chips were down from 2004 , but average price realizations improved for exported un- coated freesheet and coated groundwood paper grades . favorable currency translation , as yearly average real exchange rates versus the u.s . dollar were 17% ( 17 % ) higher in 2005 than in 2004 , positively impacted reported sales in u.s . dollars . average sales prices for domestic un- coated paper declined 4% ( 4 % ) in local currency versus 2004 , while domestic coated paper prices were down 3% ( 3 % ) . operating profits in 2005 were down 9% ( 9 % ) from 2004 , but were up 2% ( 2 % ) from 2003 . earnings in 2005 were neg- atively impacted by a weaker product and geographic sales mix for both uncoated and coated papers , reflecting increased competition and softer demand , particularly in the printing , commercial and editorial market segments. .