Many
vendors felt the old corrugated market had stabilized. There were signs that
offshore and Mexican buyers were starting to enter the market in large enough
blocks to hold prices stable.
However,
there are indications that prices are starting to erode, and export orders are
drying up. One West Coast packer states that OCC orders are hard to come by.
Reflecting the difficulties, he reports dock prices which have fallen by
410-$15 a ton.
While
many vendors still feel that market conditions for OCC will improve during the
first quarter of next year, the next few months could be difficult. Buying by
Chinese mills is easing back. There is a sense that some of this move is being
done to see how soft the OCC market could get.
With
little offshore activity, the muted response by many domestic mills to the
tonnage is creating some problems for many paper stock dealers. Despite ample
downtime already taken, inventory problems in some regions of the country are
keeping mills from aggressively going after additional tonnages.
While
there are problems, a number of packers note that other board mills have been
able to get inventories in line, and movement is not as difficult. This trend
seems to be more likely in the eastern half of the country.
The
Mexican market also is reporting a slowdown in OCC orders. This is creating
some difficult conditions, not only in the Southwest, but also in parts of Southern
California.
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