France: fresh round of price talks for fine paper shipments in September

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Prices for woodfree coated and uncoated paper remained largely stable on the French market in August.

A new round of discussions about fine paper prices has commenced. Echoing what is happening in other European markets, woodfree uncoated paper manufacturers delivering to France want to raise prices for September deliveries. Paper producers had informed their customers back in July or in August that they intend to tack on up to €40/t because of sustained cost pressure, although price announcements varied wildly depending on the producer and paper grade.

Even though the woodfree coated paper business tends to be a buyer's market, manufacturers feel compelled to demand higher prices in order to abate the pressure on its costs and margins. If producers get their way, additional hikes of up to €30/t are to follow for deliveries in September after a moderate increase was implemented in early summer.

New prices are set to take hold from varying dates between 1 and 15 September. In August, most fine paper prices remained unchanged in August, with dips in prices caused by summer discounts relatively thin on the ground. Coated paper sales in France and throughout Europe continue to decline compared with last year. As a result, customers were putting a little more pressure on prices in August than they were in the uncoated paper segment.

This article is an excerpt from EUWID's monthly report on the paper and board markets in France. The EUWID Price Watch France and the corresponding market report for August have been published in EUWID Pulp and Paper issue 36/2017 on 6 September.

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