BIR World Mirror on Recovered Paper / Quarterly Report - April 2012

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

The challenges that we faced at the start of 2011 have continued to dampen the markets as we embark on 2012 - another difficult year.

Europe remains burdened by the on-going sovereign debt crisis afflicting the Euro-zone, with talk of the possibility of a “double-dip” recession. The unemployment rate in the Euro-zone is running at more than 10%, with 50% of the youth being unemployed in Spain and Greece. Today, there are 17m people unemployed across the Euro-zone.

Oil prices continue to rise, with increasing risks of a global economic downturn, as we are riding very close to the unsustainable levels of 2008.

All of these factors have undermined confidence in Europe’s economic well-being as well as impacting upon exports to economies in Asia where a fall in order books has given rise to lower GDP growth - particularly in China and India - for the first time in a decade (...)

Read the full market report in our members' area.