Italian prices for low and medium recovered paper grades continued to soar in the month of May. Mark-ups were fuelled by higher activity levels at paper mills and, thus, stronger demand for recovered paper, combined with low collection volumes. Business was a little quieter for the high grades, with prices often the same as in April.
Mixed paper and board (1.02), supermarket paper and board (1.04) and old corrugated containers (OCC; 1.05) prices had already risen sharply in April, and increased again by up to €20 or even €30 per tonne in May, meaning that buyers are now facing much higher raw material costs.
Italian paper mills' own selling prices for corrugated case material are also rising, but the implementation of the hikes is not running quite as smoothly in Italy as in other European countries and the increases are less pronounced there. Paper and cartonboard manufacturers’ order intake has been a little brisker in recent weeks, but they are not in a mood to celebrate. Market players are not sensing any significant improvement in consumer spending.
Several experts find it all the more astounding that recovered paper prices have risen so much in such a short period of time. Market players attributed these hikes to the combination of a variety of factors, including an improvement in demand for ordinary recovered paper grades both from domestic paper mills and from buyers from countries such as Germany and Austria.
Read the full monthly report on the recovered paper market in Italy and access price tables and graphing tools here:
