Many newsprint paper mills are currently operating at very high utilisation rates, making it increasingly difficult for large buyers to switch suppliers.
While Q3 negotiations slowly get underway, market experts state that previous negotiations resulted in wide price disparities depending on supplier strategy and purchase volume, contributing to market uncertainty and continued buyer resistance to further increases.
Both paper producers and publishers/printers are grappling with the effects of structural market decline and elevated cost pressure, leaving proposed Q3 price hikes highly contentious. Buyers argue that weak demand and declining print volumes do not justify higher prices, while also recognising that mills are concerned about losing tonnage.
Producers, meanwhile, maintain that higher prices are necessary to sustain European newsprint production and are increasingly converting machines to alternative paper grades in response to declining demand. Market participants warn, however, that if another paper machine were to close permanently, the market could shift abruptly from relative balance to an acute supply shortage.
