Page 42 from: June / July 2015

Paper

42 June/July 2015

M A R K E T A N A L Y S I S

Stock-building push
by Chinese mills
Large fibre consumers in China
have been looking to rebuild
their inventories, partly in
preparation for the start
of packaging production
for the Christmas season.
But another leading buyer
of recovered paper,
Indonesia, will not be
taking any deliveries
during the month of
Ramadan.

Closed: June 8 2015

Europe
Options more limited
In May as in April, the majority of Euro-
pean mills increased their prices for the
lower grades of recovered fibre on the
back of good demand. And for the Far
East, OCC prices increased in Euro terms
in response not only to healthy demand

Buyers in Europe have also created very
strong demand for most of the middle
grades of recovered paper – and par-
ticularly office-type grades – at signifi-
cantly higher prices. Orders from India
and other Asian countries have also
been showing some improvement even
if at, once again, slightly lower price
points than for European business.
Meanwhile, volumes have remained
slow in arriving at processors’ facilities.
Pulp prices have risen sharply since the
beginning of the year, thus making the
higher grades of recovered paper more
attractive. Therefore, prices have been
climbing against a backdrop of limited
supply and healthy demand. 

North America
Slight container improvement
Chinese demand for corrugated is
beginning to percolate through to the
market in June although there are
mixed signals as to how long the pres-
sure on supply will last. Large consum-
ers of corrugated in China depressed
their inventories in the first quarter of
2015 and are now seeking to rebuild

ICFPA urges fibre separation at source
National governments should ‘pur-
sue best practices to enable recov-
ered fibre to find its highest end-
use’, according to Donna Harman,
outgoing president of the Interna-
tional Council of Forest and Paper
Associations (ICFPA) which unites
bodies from 43 countries and repre-
sents approximately 90% of world
paper production.
Her comment follows the release of an
ICFPA policy statement on paper recy-
cling which calls on governments to:
educate citizens about the importance
of recycling; provide consistent rules of
law so that contracts between waste

collectors and buyers will be respected
and certain; support the burning of
recovered fibre only when it is not prac-
tical for recovery or no longer capable
of being used in new product; and
encourage separation at source from
other recyclable materials and from
wet/organic solid waste to reduce sort-
ing costs and help ensure a high-qual-
ity stream of recovered fibre.
Governments are also urged to
‘avoid artificial mandates or subsi-
dies that direct the flow of recovered
fibre to a specific product, or make
distinctions between type of recov-
ered fibre used in manufacturing’,

with the ICFPA adding that ‘the mar-
ketplace is more efficient than gov-
ernments in determining the highest
and best use of the recovered fibre’.
The ICFPA policy statement contends
that extended producer responsibil-
ity systems ‘should not be a preferred
choice where existing markets for
collection and reuse of recovered
paper are efficient and effective’. It
adds: ‘In places where voluntary,
industry-based programmes are
yielding good success in reaching
targets for paper recovery and diver-
sion from landfills, government
should avoid interference.’

but also to the strong US dollar. Although
shipping rates to the Far East are stable
for the moment, options are more limited
at present as Indonesia is not accepting
shipments during Ramadan, which
extends for a month from June 18.
Stocks of OCC are not particularly high
in Europe despite reasonable volumes

of the lower grades reaching merchant
processors’ facilities.
European demand for the deinking
grades is very good within Europe
while orders are also continuing to be
booked with Asia at slightly lower
prices, including with India for where
shipping rates are stable.

RI 5-Analysis Paper&Textiles.indd 42 15-06-15 09:28