Slack demand for finished paper and plentiful stocks of recovered paper in almost all segments of the paper industry are leading many customers to scale back their recovered paper purchasing. Market players interviewed by EUWID said that some were even cancelling orders, especially in Germany. Insiders said that demand was “a nightmare”. Competition among recovered paper traders was extremely fierce, meaning that they had to operate at razor-thin margins.
Continental European paper mills are planning massive stoppages over Christmas, if not sooner, to take pressure off the market for finished paper. Many paper mills in the UK will also go offline for a little longer than normal.
At the same time, market participants noted that Christmas business was finally leaving its mark, primarily in the form of higher recovered paper volumes from retailers.
Against this backdrop, prices for old corrugated containers (OCC; 1.05) and mixed paper and board (1.02) continued to track lower in the UK. The price gap between these two grades remains historically small. Mixed paper is often used to produce higher-quality grades, insiders told EUWID.
With demand in Europe cool, many sellers are relying on exports to the Far East but have to adjust to Asian customers’ prices to do so. The all-important market of India, in particular, was under pressure.
Read our full monthly report on the market for recovered paper in the UK and access price charts and graphing tools here:
