MARKET ANALYSIS
US OCC gets
February boost
Recovered paper sector boosted by firmer
prices but finds freight rates and the coronavi-
rus a double challenge.
However, US exporters said difficulty
getting shipping containers to move
orders off shore was the biggest chal-
lenge facing the market. Because of
coronavirus-related manufacturing
70
Old corrugated container (OCC) pric-
es continued to improve in February
in the US and abroad and traders
anticipated that the upward move-
ment would continue into March.
interruptions in China, shipping lines,
light on loaded containers, were
delaying and halting calls on ports.
‘Export prices are going up but there
is a risk that if you take an order, the
shipment could be cancelled,’ said
one broker, who said that as many as
half of the Asia-bound shipments from
the US were being annulled in the
second half of February.
Meanwhile, sources reported, demand
from North American mills also was
strong, pushing the average US mill
price for OCC to US$ 71.67 per tonne
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