At the beginning of the new year, merchants on the Italian recovered paper market were once again relying heavily on Far East exports to sustain their business. Given the very weak demand in their own country, suppliers were pursuing alternative sales channels in Asia intensely, and met with success not only for old corrugated containers (OCC) but also increasingly for mixed paper and magazines. On occasion, new shavings of corrugated board were also being shipped to Asia.
The focus on exports prevented a larger drop in prices on the Italian market, at least for the ordinary grades of recovered paper. Deinking grades became cheaper again in many cases, while prices of higher grades were stable....
