The price of imported waste paper continues to fall, prompting Asian buyers to purchase, while India suspends production to deal with overcapacity

The price of imported waste paper continues to fall, prompting Asian buyers to purchase, while India suspends production to deal with overcapacity

While customers in South East Asia (SEA), Taiwan and India have continued to seek cheaper imports of used corrugated container (OCC) over the past two weeks, some customers have now begun snapping up paper originating in Europe in large quantities. This has led suppliers to raise offers for European OCC 95/5 in Indonesia by $10/ton this week and in Malaysia by $5/ton.box of swisher sweets amazon

Indonesia and Malaysia require imported waste paper goods to be inspected before shipment in the country of origin, and the price is US$5-15 per ton higher than other Southeast Asian countries. Due to the decline in sea freight, the price difference has narrowed compared with the previous 20-30 US dollars per ton. boxer sweet pea

In the non-inspection Southeast Asian countries (mainly Thailand and Vietnam), sellers’ offer levels for high-quality European brown paper have increased by $5 per ton. However, buyers in the region said demand for finished products was sluggish due to falling OCC prices in Europe and lower ocean freight costs. sweet box bakery

Instead, suppliers pointed to lower summer European takeover rates and refused to cut prices last week when major buyers in Thailand and Vietnam sought to buy European OCC 95/5 at less than $120 per tonne. However, the stalemate eased this week as major paper mills in Vietnam came in to snap up paper. The sources said the customer restocking reflected a potential pick-up in packaging demand in Southeast Asia after the traditional peak began in September. sweet box cupcakes

Buyers in Southeast Asia and India are buying European brown paper while cutting production from US origin, while US suppliers are keeping prices high. sweet pea boxer

India and Chinese paper mills were previously the two major importers of US waste paper in Asia. Their buying power propped up U.S. wastepaper prices when regional demand weakened, sometimes pushing them to unprecedented levels. Today, mills in India consume large volumes of U.S. OCC and blended paper to produce recycled pulp that is shipped to China. Exports include finished products used by Chinese producers as recycled pulp. sweet pea the boxer

It was a gold rush for Indian manufacturers, who subsequently invested in building new capacity, mostly smaller machines with an annual capacity of less than 100,000 tons, aimed at meeting strong demand in China. the sweet science boxing

Exports will peak in 2021 following China’s total ban on solid waste imports in early 2021. But this trend began to change at the end of 2021. Top domestic manufacturers such as Nine Dragons and Lee & Man flocked to Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, to build large-scale recycled pulp and cardboard factories with the purpose of shipping products back to China.

In India, demand for recycled pulp destined for China started to weaken in late 2021 and has continued to decline since then. But since then, new machines in India have been continuously commissioned, leading to overcapacity in the Indian industry, and orders for recycled pulp from China have basically disappeared and are unlikely to recover. boxing sweet science

Therefore, since March this year, paper mills in northern and western India have been adopting market-related shutdown measures in a collective effort to deal with the decline in finished product prices caused by overcapacity in the domestic market. Meanwhile, Indian buyers have switched to cheaper European paper while reducing their US wastepaper imports.

Producers with links to China have been buying U.S. recovered paper, although volumes have been reduced due to the ongoing downturn in the Chinese economy. But other regional buyers have slashed U.S. wastepaper. volume and has been urging sellers to lower prices. This effect was apparently offset by reduced supply and reduced recycling in the US, in line with spending cuts by US consumers.

Major suppliers hold a firm attitude towards the price of US double-sorting OCC (DS OCC 12) in Southeast Asia, but the trading parties under the pressure of inventory have given in and made concessions. Finally, prices for US brown grades remained unchanged in most of Southeast Asia and Taiwan. For the same reason, Japanese OCC prices remained stable as suppliers insisted on pricing. sweet tarts box

In addition, looking back at the European market in May, the prices of kraft linerboard in Germany and France were the same as in April, but the prices of kraft linerboard in Italy and Spain fell by 20-30 euros / ton during the month, and the UK was under continuous pressure The £20/t drop was largely due to cheaper US imports and the pricing gap with recycled containerboard (RCCM).

With overseas supply still high, input costs relatively low and demand sluggish, sources expect kraftliner prices to fall further in June and/or July in most markets as the market catches up to some extent with recycled bins Cardboard fell more sharply.

Although the operating rate of recycled cardboard paper is low, the supply is still high. According to sources, with the start of sales of Norske Skog’s 210,000 t/y BM in Bruck, Austria, new capacity has entered the German and Italian markets, and more new capacity will be reported in the near future. Meanwhile, demand has been sluggish, consistent with generally subdued consumer activity. The sources also say that demand for recycled containerboard was weak in May, as some customers disposed of their stocks in late April after Hamburg announced that the May price increase was ultimately unsuccessful. sweet science fitness boxing club

However, prices across Europe were largely stable as recycled containerboard mills reported that they were operating near or below margins at current levels. The exception is Italy, where sources report a drop of €20/t on some high-end imported recycled containerboard prices.

Folding board prices were largely flat in May, but one producer with open contracts reported a slight reduction of €20-40/t on the higher end of its pricing, and another said the cuts were starting to show. Businesses are starting to get nervous because demand for paperboard remains calm, according to one producer.

In a clear sign of the times, the Metsä Board of Directors has reported that it will be in talks for change regarding possible temporary layoffs at seven Finnish factories. The company said it would prepare to adjust production to compensate for lower deliveries, with layoffs likely to last 90 days and affect a total of 1,100 employees. Despite this, plastic replacement projects are still advancing at a fast pace, and many respondents’ expectations for the second half of the year remain quite strong.