Prices for ordinary grades on the German recovered paper market rose again slightly in October, as had been expected. For November, market participants mostly report stable recovered paper prices. In December, however, a trend turnaround is expected. Due to the extensive downtimes in the paper industry, insiders anticipate falling prices for supermarket paper and board as well as mixed paper.
At the moment, the German recovered paper market is relatively balanced, at least for the ordinary grades. Supply and demand are in equilibrium at a low level. Volumes sold to the Far East export market have fallen as conditions have become less attractive than they were in October, respondents say. But demand from domestic paper mills has improved in some cases, they add. Most market participants expect steady prices for mixed paper and supermarket paper and board in November, and a few of them even expect slight price increases.
In October, there was a price uptick for ordinary grades, driven mainly by attractive export prices and low freight rates in combination with weak collection volumes. The other grades of recovered paper typically had stable prices in October, although another round of mark-downs was reported for the higher grades.
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