BIR releases Paper World Mirror- Sep ‘15

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has released the Paper World Mirror for the month of September 2015.

Sharp fall in paper demand during the beginning of Q3 this year resulted in lower export values. Buying activity by Chinese mills remained muted during this period. OCC prices witnessed sharp decline of over 8% from $180-plus per tonne to as low as $165-plus per tonne. The prices of mixed paper too declined from $140-plus per tonne to touch $130-plus per tonne.

Adding to woes, the Indonesian mills reported overcapacity issues. Many mills in the country were forced to reduce their recovered paper imports on account of reduced production in the wake of production halts. On top of that, sufficient availability of recovered fibre in local market stemmed imports from overseas destinations. The beefed up quality checking procedures at Vietnamese ports have led to delays in shipment of cargoes. Meantime, mill operators in the country have announced plans to add more capacities.

The fall in Turkish Lira has resulted in rise in import costs for Turkish domestic mills. Installation of new machine by Modern Karton and achievement of full capacity by Kartonsan mill has led to sharp rise in demand for recovered paper.

In Western European region, France reported higher OCC sales prices when compared with the previous year. The demand for high grades continued to remain robust during the third quarter of the current year. In fact, France extreme reported shortage of material during the quarter on peak demand. Adequate stock levels have resulted in reduction of fibre prices in Germany.

The Chinese demand for bulk grades have dropped significantly over the quarter. However, ramped up production from Smurfit Kappa mill at Snodland is likely to partially offset the drop in Chinese demand.

Northern European region witnessed good demand for paper and board mill demand for all the main grades. The imports of OCC remained thin. The transition at Swedish Holmen Paper has resulted in stoppage of using recovered fibre in production lines.