Market Report

History is repeating itself 

NL-Tilburg, 30 March 2025

If exports join in, we said last week, then the price increases of the low grades would continue. Well, for now there is no sign of that, yet all European local paper and board mills raised their purchase prices this week. And significantly. Driven by developments in the recovered paper market in Italy and more specifically the high prices offered at tenders by Comieco, perhaps ? It could be. Or do they just want to underpin the intention to get finished paper and board selling prices up by 1 April with higher raw material prices ? Or is there just the nervousness about little availability of recovered paper on the European market now that for a long time no attempt has been made to stay even close to the export prices of recovered paper ? And now that stocks are low at recovered paper processors, they order larger volumes to get as much as possible ? And put that request in as many places as possible to find out that it is not possible to buy more, but it only results in pushing up the price of recovered paper ? Should not be, as those big market players buying millions of tonnes of recovered paper undoubtedly have a much smarter strategy than these aforementioned coincidences. 

Whatever it may be, the increases announced this week for April are hefty, as we have really only seen them every 5 years in the past. Our last memory is from around the turn of 2020/21. 

In the beginning of the week, only the packaging (low)grades shot up in price, in the further course of the week also all sorts of printing grades. That some better packaging grades like printed scanboard etc. have not yet caught up fully, is then just a matter of time.

And exports? So they are not participating (yet). True, buyers in India have raised their prices, but not anywhere near the increases that European mill

buyers have announced. And in South East Asia, things are very quiet. Offers from other countries and continents are flaunted and therefore the
(too) expensive recovered paper from Europe is not yet needed. Will that still come ? If so, that would then be more oil on the fire. If it doesn't come then it will be oil on the waves.

Price indication

Price indication in Europe for low grades of recovered paper, sorted, baled and ex works are now between € 80 and € 110 per tonne. These prices are depending on quality, available volume, region and loaded weight.

Look here at the Price chart >> 
  
The price chart gives an indication of the price  of mixed paper, separately collected, in the Netherlands free delivered mill over the last 10 years.
Scrolling over the top of the columns gives the exact price indication in Euro's per ton.