Page 64 from: March 2016

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

Paper
Closed: February 23, 2016

Injection of buying interest
OCC prices have been holding up well in
the international marketplace, not least
because of stable purchasing by the
Chinese and renewed buying activity by
Indonesian mills, with India also said to
have placed business with overseas sup-
pliers. US exporters are also reporting
an upturn in export prices for mixed
paper and ONP in the immediate
aftermath of the Chinese New Year
holidays.

Europe
Slightly lower volumes
Merchant processors are reporting that
the inflow of lower grades has been
slightly slower in February when com-
pared to December and January. There
is not much OCC available and stocks
are still low in Europe.

Most European mills have kept their
prices stable this month against a back-
drop of good demand. OCC prices for
the Far East are around the same level
as those prevailing in Europe. Indonesia
has returned to the market while orders
from China have been generally stable.
Shipping rates remain low and avail-

ability of vessel space is good.
For the deinking grades, demand is
very good within Europe. There is also
demand for Asia at slightly lower pric-
es – mainly from South Korea but with
some smaller volumes going to India
at shipping rates that have been falling
of late. To date, no impact has been felt
from the mill closures and reorganisa-
tions within the newsprint sector.
With incoming volumes termed reason-
able, demand is healthy within Europe
for most of the middle grades of recov-
ered paper, although some reduction
has been seen in archive grade require-
ments. There has been demand from

India and other Asian destinations but
at slightly lower price levels compared
to Europe. European prices have proved
to be largely stable in February.
As has been the case for some time,
higher grades are not abundant while
prices are stable amid good demand.

North America
Unexpected price boost
In the wake of the Chinese New Year
celebrations, mid-February provided a
very welcome – if unexpected – boost
in export prices for mixed paper, ONP
and OCC. However, traders report, it
is too soon to determine whether the

Late flurry seals UK fibre export record
Despite the economic growth concerns in many of its leading markets,
Europe’s largest exporter of recovered paper – the UK – established a
new overseas shipment record last year of 4.88 million tonnes, bettering
its previous best of 4.847 million tonnes set in 2008. The milestone was
overtaken during a frenetic end to the year in which the UK exported 466
232 tonnes in December alone, a figure beaten last year only by the 505
116 tonnes shipped abroad in June.
Across last year as a whole, the UK’s mixed & mechanical exports climbed
5.8% to 1.983 million tonnes and overseas deliveries of corrugated &
kraft jumped 10.5% to 2.717 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the high grades
total sky-rocketed 73.3% to 179 905 tonnes, according to data released
by the Confederation of Paper Industries and HM Revenue & Customs.
The flip side to these export gains is that UK mills’ consumption of recov-
ered paper tumbled 10.2% last year to 3.336 million tonnes. The country’s
collection volumes were similar to the previous year.