N.A. Coated Free Sheet Markets Also Improving

Print this article | Send to Colleague

As with LWC, the tenor of the coated free sheet market is also improving. While March realizations were essentially flat on a m/m basis, producers have begun announcing pricing initiatives, Wilde explains, adding that the coated sheet market is apt to get the biggest bounce as restrictions on Chinese and Indonesian imports take effect. As with coated groundwood, Wilde emphasizes that "while preliminary March shipment data show signs of improvement, (+27.1% y/y, +16.7% m/m), much of the gain also owes to a 'lapping' of weak numbers from March 2009 (-32.6% y/y)."