BIR World Mirror on Recovered Paper / Quarterly Report - April 2013

PRESIDENT’S REPORT featuring Asia
by Ranjit Baxi, J&H Sales International Ltd

After the volatilities seen in 2011 and 2012, the markets are looking to 2013 to be a year of recovery - although it still promises to be another challenging period. Projections for European and Asian economies are all pointing to positive growth, albeit from as low as 0.5% for some European countries up to 8% for China. Talk of recessionary trends in Western economies has receded and consumer confidence has been gradually recovering.

Recovered fibre prices and demand started strengthening in early January and continued to higher levels from the previous quarter. Currency fluctuations in this quarter helped to maintain a strong export price, with the US dollar/Euro exchange rate strengthening from 1.37 to 1.28 and with similar movements seen in sterling.

Freight rates remained reasonably stable during the quarter, with marginal increases seen in the latter part to give slightly higher levels than at the start of the year. There are indications of further freight increases in the second quarter (...)

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