Market Report

Prices all grades further up in May
 

NL-Tilburg, May 5th 2024

For Labour bank holiday our English depots are closed on May 6th and our Dutch and Belgian depots are closed on May 8th for Ascension Day.

Eventually in Europe prices for all recovered paper grades were raised this week across a broad front for May. The increases differ significantly by grade and region, but nothing has remained the same. The pain for the paper industry is mainly with the producers of graphic paper, newsprint amongst other, where resistance in the market to price increases on finished paper is the highest. Hence less willingness for higher prices for grades that are still quite available, but also price increases of up to €20 per tonne, or even more in some regions, for lower de-inking grades. These have limited availability and high demand. Prices for better wood-free grades have not yet been finalized in some regions, but where they have been agreed, price increases of €10 to €15 have been recorded. 

In the low grades, we saw local price increases from €10 in North West Europe to €20 in Southern Europe this week. Partly because the European export market received support from price increases in the US and Japan. After weeks of resistance, buyers in Asia finally had to accept price increases for occ (cardboard) of $5 to $10 per tonne, fuelled partly by declining stocks due to purchase hesitations in the previously upbeat market. This as there is still a continued depressive market for the recycled liner board market in Asia. But the search for more supply of recovered paper in the local markets there has also ultimately led to local price increases, and it is not hard to guess that in the absence of sufficient imports, local prices there will rise further, despite recycled corrugated paper sales actually being poor. Many machine stoppages are the result, but the fact is that if production does take place, there must also be sufficient raw material. And with rebounding demand for occ (kls) and mixed paper locally in the US, Europe and Japan, buyers in Southeast Asia do have to increase the price to eventually end up at a level above local in export markets. Mill buyers, however, just don't want to do that right away yet. This last week, prices were offered $5 to $10 per tonne higher in exports, but by now we have seen those in local markets as well. There was also demand from India this week, but there too, export markets are lagging behind price increases in 

Europe's local market, so no orders were actually booked. Thus, the export market for low grades remains of little interest.

With the European paper industry pushing ahead with price increases in May, fears of a quick turnaround in the market do not seem to become reality and, certainly for the summer months with even less availability, there is a solid foundation underpinning prices. And that while the export market ultimately hardly counts at the moment. Should demand from Asia increase further, price increases are in the offing, although the general feeling seems to be that we should be quite happy with the current market (prices). That may be an understatement as historically we now have prices well above long-term averages.   

Price indication

Price indication in Europe for low grades of recovered paper, sorted, baled and ex works are now between € 60 and € 90 per tonne. These prices are depending on quality, available volume, region and loaded weight.

Look here at the Price chart >> 
  
The price chart gives an indication of the price of mixed paper, separately collected, in the Netherlands free delivered mill over the last 10 years.
Scrolling over the top of the columns gives the exact price indication in Euro's per ton.