Publication paper prices are under pressure. Now, buyers in France got their way and achieved price reductions for 2013.
Stakeholders in France have largely put the finishing touches to their talks to settle on prices and quantities on the publication paper market. Just a few transactions were left in the final week of January, especially for newsprint.
Several newsprint buyers continue to insist on sizeable price cuts. Insiders are reporting reductions to the tune of €10-15 or sometimes more. Generally speaking, prices will apply for six months, but some three-month deals were also struck. Very mixed comments were made regarding contract volumes in 2013, which were almost unchanged or up to 10% lower than last year.
It had been rather obvious for some time that raising prices would be almost out of the question in the present market climate, insiders said. The media landscape is undergoing a structural change with dwindling newsprint consumption on the whole. This shift is especially pronounced in France.
Moreover, economic factors are also playing into ailing overall demand for paper, which several paper producers feel offered a ray of light. Paper producers are pinning their hopes on a slowing downturn in paper consumption or conditions stabilising altogether as soon as France's economy picks up a little.
⇒ This article is an excerpt from EUWID's monthly report on the paper markets in France. The EUWID Price Watch France for January is published in EUWID Pulp and Paper no. 5 on 30 January.
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