Paper Department

According to speakers at the Spring Convention of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the continued strength of Asian economies will result in strong markets for scrap paper in the developed world.

Based on fundamentals of consumption and population growth, China’s recovered paper import growth is likely to prove sustainable, attendees of the late May event, held in Berlin, heard from speakers addressing the Paper Division.

If the forecast of a guest speaker is correct, the optimism could be fueled by Western Europe shifting from a supply surplus of scrap paper to a supply deficit in just two years. Hubert Neuhaus of SITA Böhm GmbH pointed to the likelihood of a "break with tradition" in 2006 within the German recovered paper market. He predicted that, after years of collection outstripping consumption, the two totals would align during 2005 and consumption would then begin to move ahead strongly the following year.

Dominique Maguin, president of BIR’s Paper Division, said China is now an industrial giant and a major importer of many raw materials—from steel and nonferrous metals to soybeans and sugar. This "phenomenon" has been the driving force behind price increases in many commodities.

However, he questioned why the price of recovered fiber "has not followed other raw material trends." While there was plenty of demand for the industry’s products, "nobody here is entirely at ease with the value of our materials."

Divisional Vice President Ranjit Baxi of J&H Sales International Ltd. underlined the importance of Asia to the global scrap paper market. The continent now imports some 15 million metric tons of scrap paper each year.