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US OCC demand sees some options as potential port strike could lead to more domestic ton availability -- A looming potential port strike at three dozen US ports from Maine to Texas is stirring up recovered fiber shipments as sellers turn to domestic mills for trades, leaving more options for old corrugated container (OCC) purchases for US mills in mid-September.
Contacts told Fastmarkets’ PPI Pulp & Paper Week this week that well-supplied mills have the upper hand as OCC supplies exceed total demand.
The mid-month growth in OCC availability comes after buyers at September’s start pushed back on OCC tons, citing downtime and reduced demand in addition to extra offers of tons in late summer, and "full" warehouses. Some mill contacts this week said their raw material inventories of OCC and mixed paper are "at capacity."
Sellers continue to see slowdowns and shakeups at US ports that turned their attention back to the US market as a possible port strike is at play.
Boxboard coated prices go different directions – with CUK down $30 and CRB up $20 in NA, contacts report -- Two coated boxboard grades that have been especially price quiet in the last year or two both moved this month, with one, coated recycled boxboard (CRB), increasing narrowly and the other, coated unbleached kraft (CUK), dropping.
These changes occurred as overall market reports about boxboard indicated slower-than-expected demand, and as one US and global supplier noted, "soft in the US."
Still, buyers and sellers in Fastmarkets’ PPI Pulp & Paper Week price survey reported a $20/ton increase for CRB and a $30 decline for CUK. For CRB, this is the first price movement in 27 months, and for CUK, it is the first movement in 15 months.
European cartonboard market slumbers through summer, with partial FBB hikes achieved, WLC flat -- The European cartonboard market struggled through another quarter in Q3 with low demand for both surveyed grades. Although folding boxboard (FBB) producers were able to partially implement a price increase, the hike was input-cost driven and extremely difficult to pass through, even in part, which was the case with the majority of increases. White-lined chipboard (WLC) prices were stable with lagging demand.
When contacts returned after the August holiday period, many of them noted that because the market was still so quiet, it felt as if everyone was still on vacation, and virtually no one expressed optimism that the situation would change in the near future.
FBB hike partially through: Earlier this year, many FBB players announced a range of increase amounts and dates from which they said they planned to seek price increases after a long decline and then stagnation of prices.
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