After prices for brown recycled corrugated case material in France had reversed in July, further price reductions were seen in August. Price declines are reported for both brown recycled grades and white-top testliner.

 

The background to these further reductions is slow market demand for corrugated board and corrugated case materials, overcapacity and rising paper inventories. The significant drop in recovered paper prices in July was also a trigger.

 

Prices for brown kraftliner also began to fall in August and, in some cases, already in July. A large part of the last price increase has reportedly been eroded. Prices for white-top kraftliner remained stable, while price reductions were seen for semi-bleached fluting.

 

Overall, the kraftliner market seems to be better balanced than the market for recycled grades. There is not the same overcapacity here, and market insiders also point out that maintenance shutdowns planned by producers for the period up to autumn are expected to reduce supply pressure.