BIR World Mirror on Recovered Paper / Quarterly Report - April 2017

Reinhold Schmidt, Paper Division President (Recycling Karla Schmidt)

Germany

At the beginning of 2017, German mills were mostly filled to the rafters with stocks of recovered paper. Many looked to take advantage of this situation by reducing their prices for the bulk grades by up to Euro 10 per tonne. However, this was not achievable in all regions of Germany because of two factors: first, recovered paper suppliers started off the year with low stocks; and secondly, recovered paper demand from Asia increased considerably - a trend that had begun in December - with prices higher than those prevailing domestically. Slightly improved container availability also favoured exports. In terms of the market, there was a strong north-south divide and also a west-east divide in January.

In February, domestic recovered paper collection volumes were at a high level, albeit slightly lower than in the previous month. There was high demand for the bulk grades from domestic mills and increasingly from the Far East. The situation was similar in neighbouring European countries generally used for export, and they tried to put in additional orders in Germany. Overall, recovered paper could be sold immediately and collectors were holding no stocks. At the same time, domestic mills’ inventories melted away; prices went higher than in January but remained below export levels. Regionally, there was a strong west-east divide (...)

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