On the French recovered paper market the price trend for ordinary grades at the start of the new year will depend on many factors: the development of demand from Asia, whether there are further production downtimes in Europe and whether recovered paper arisings are strong or weak.
Respondents are not very optimistic when it comes to production activity at European paper mills. As of mid-December, there were no signs that their order situation would change or improve in January. On the other hand, some market participants believe low collection volumes of recovered paper could help keep the market balanced.
Asian recovered paper buyers could play a decisive role. Market opinion was divided about whether Far East consumers were likely to remain active in Europe or whether the recent slowdown in demand would prove lasting. However, overall most market participants expect stable or possibly slightly lower prices for ordinary grades in January in France. In isolated cases, players said that slight increases were possible, but only if the Far East export market picked up again. Buyers categorically reject the prospect of price hikes, pointing to the weak order situation in the European paper industry.
⇒ This is an excerpt from EUWID's report on the French paper and board market. The complete article will be published in EUWID Packaging Markets 1/2023
