The German paper and board market: more stoppages at RCCM and cartonboard mills

German recycled corrugated case material prices appear to have hit rock bottom in July. Many producers are now in the red, and production stoppages are still the order of the day. Continuous downtime is now also a prevailing feature of the cartonboard market because producers do not have enough orders on hand. Activity levels at envelope producers were unsatisfactory in the first three months of the year and slumped further during the second quarter. Deliveries were down by double-digit percentages. As a result, there has been major pressure on prices of woodfree white envelope paper. Between April and June, there were also significant price reductions for sack kraft paper. Producers of coreboard are increasingly being forced to halt their machines. Most prices for mass recovered paper grades stayed the same in Germany in June....