Pan Asia Paper Co., the largest newsprint supplier in Asia,
expects newsprint prices to peak next year, according to Reuters.
"At the current cost structure that we have, and if we can contain our
costs. we would say prices may very well peak by the middle of next year,"
said Omind Revhaug, chairman and CEO.
Pan Asia is jointly owned by Abitibi-Consolidated, Hansol Paper, and
Norske Skogindustrier.
The company has four plants in South Korea, Thailand and China
with an annual capacity of about 1.5 million metric tons of newsprint and
groundwood paper.
Revhaug said he did not know at what level prices would peak but
said newsprint would reach $700 per metric ton by the end of this year, a jump
from $450 per metric ton in early 1999.
He said the increase was partly due to rises in oil and waste
paper prices. Andre Van Hattum, president and COO, expects tight supply in the
newsprint market to continue in the region.
He said demand in Asia was estimated at around six million metric
tons per year, compared with supplies of about four to 4.5 million metric tons.
Pan Asia Paper was looking to install a second newsprint line at
its 53 percent-owned Shanghai Pan Asia Potential Paper Company with a capacity
of about 200,000 metric tons per year, he said. The line now has a capacity of
about 140,000 metric tons.
The project, awaiting approval from the Chinese government, would
be worth about $200 million and the company could seek more than $100 million
from banks to finance the second newsprint line.
China, with demand of some 1.5 million metric tons per year, was
growing at a rate of about eight percent annually, he added.
Sponsored Content
SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC
An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).
Get curated news on YOUR industry.
Enter your email to receive our newsletters.

Explore the November 2000 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
Latest from Recycling Today
- Buy Scrap Software to showcase its software at Scrap Expo in September
- LG details recycling activities
- Algoma EAF is up and running
- Toyota-Tsusho completes acquisition of Radius Recycling
- CATL, Ellen MacArthur Foundation aim to accelerate circular battery economy
- Commentary: Expanded polystyrene is 98 percent air, 2 percent plastic and 100 percent misunderstood
- AMCS appoints general manager for North America
- How tariffs, regulations affect LIBs recycling in US, EU