Uncoated Groundwood Driven by Improving Industry Fundamentals

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All major North American producers (NewPage, Verso, Myllykoski N.A., Abitibi, Catalyst, and Irving) have announced a $60/ton price increase on uncoated mechanical grades, effective mid-September/early-October, Wilde says. If successful, this will be the third price increase for the year. The current price increase is driven by improving industry fundamentals—reduced supplies, improving order backlogs, and higher operating rates. The current price hike is also driven by improvement in advertising demand in the second quarter and a pick-up in catalog business. List prices in August remained flat. In July, prices were up for most of the uncoated mechanical grades, while preliminary July shipments were slightly weaker than expected.