Prices for supermarket paper and board (1.04) and mixed paper (1.02) continued to trend sharply higher on the German recovered paper market in April. As in the previous month, many paper mills were scrambling to procure recovered paper ahead of the Easter holidays, fearing logistics bottlenecks. However, it seems the current price rally may have reached its peak. Experts predict smaller price movements at most during May. The major panic is over for now, many market participants believe.
Market insiders say the price rally for supermarket paper and board was mainly the result of a few paper mills’ panicked reactions. Their purchasing had not been due to increased demand for packaging in Germany but was instead primarily driven by fears of supply shortages, as the upcoming bank holidays in April and May frequently result in logistics problems. In some cases, paper producers had also slowly drawn down their recovered paper inventories over the past months, and now urgently needed to restock – resulting in upward price pressure.
Read the full monthly report on the recovered paper market in Germany and access price change charts and graphing tools here:
