October saw price increases across a number of the higher-quality grades, while the domestic market for lower grades remained quiet.
Sorted Office Waste (SOW) increased over the month, which has been attributed to the Essity paper mill now being open. Best White 2 also rose, likely due to the higher price of virgin pulp.
There was plenty of demand for the brown grades, particularly on the export market, with buyers in East Asia and Turkey remaining active. Demand for News and Pams also increased on the export market ahead of the changes at Palm’s domestic mill.
Mixed paper pricing was reasonably flat on the domestic market, with currently not much demand from mills.
Generation was still a little slow during the month, although it is likely to pick up around Christmas.
Shipping rates and fuel costs remained very high, especially for material heading to India. However, demand from the country has so far held up despite the additional cost.
Looking ahead
Letsrecycle expects some downward pressure on prices in November. Freight costs, combined with an increase in generation, may start to bring prices down.
Diwali in India could also begin to reduce demand in the coming weeks, which may weigh further on export-led grades.
In addition, the price of packaging export recovery notes (PERN) has come off slightly. This may cause pricing in November to be flatter following several months of increases.
View our more detailed paper price index here.
Register for free to comment