In April, the recovered paper market in the UK has been feeling the effects of the blockage of the Suez Canal and the ongoing limited availability of the higher recovered paper grades. Al-though demand for the ordinary grades remained good, prices were no longer rising at the rate seen in recent months.
Many EUWID respondents say that the record prices for old corrugated containers (OCC, 1.05) reached at the end of March eventually became too high for many paper mills in Asia. Moreover, the Suez Canal blockage led to a shortage of shipping containers and rising freight rates. "Many of the containers we had booked were cancelled. We had to arrange for replacement containers at high prices, which made exports unprofitable in some cases,” explained one market expert. Apparently, paper producers in Asia are once again finding less expensive alternatives to recovered paper from Europe, EUWID was told.
As a result, more material was available in Europe, but demand was also softening in these markets, many experts reported. Customers from France, Spain, the Benelux countries and, in some cases, from Turkey reportedly significantly scaled back their purchasing in April. British pa-per producers also increasingly report full inven-tory levels.
The full report on the recovered paper market in the UK appears in the print and e-paper issues of EUWID Recycling & Waste Management (08/2021) out as of 21 April. Online subscribers can access the report immediately here:
