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

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

The pain of global economic recovery continues to affect trade. Manufacturing in the Euro-zone countries has contracted to the levels of 2009 and even lower in some countries, forcing its major economies to shrink, with some stepping back into recession. Unemployment continues to increase to record-high numbers.

Weakening European and Asian demand continues to affect Asian factory outputs, which remain in decline due to weak export orders. This is especially so in China, the engine for global economic growth.

All this suggests it will take longer for a stabilisation of the global economy as well as for world demand to grow. This in turn has a continued dampening effect on demand for recovered fibre not only in Asia but also in Europe and America.

The shipping industry continued its drive to cut losses by increasing sea freight rates and surcharges during the third quarter. July, August and September saw increases of between US$ 200 and US$ 250 per 40-foot container. However, the good news is that freight rates looked to have stabilised by mid-September and we look forward to a more settled market in the final quarter (...)

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