Paper Department

A study of a decade’s worth of recovered paper pricing trends reveals that a few grades have received "upgrades" and that the world has become a smaller place.

In a seminar presented at the Paper Recycling Conference & Trade Show in late June in Atlanta, consultant Bill Moore of Moore & Associates (www.MARecycle.com), Atlanta, offered an overview of historical scrap paper pricing that identified several trends.

For the past two years, scrap paper prices (using old corrugated containers, or OCC, as the benchmark grade) in Europe and North America have moved largely in coordination.

The tandem movement of the two markets is considered to be a sign that demand from flourishing new mill capacity in China is driving the supply-and-demand equation for scrap paper equally in Europe and North America.

Changes in pulping technology provide a critical reason why the fortunes of the old magazine (OMG) grade have changed dramatically throughout the past 10 years. The use of flotation systems has made OMG desirable at many U.S. mills. Moore pegs 1996 as a year when OMG exceeded ONP (old newspapers) in value and it has stayed there ever since.

Mixed paper has also fared well in recent years, showing an upward arcing average since 1996, gaining ground on the relatively flat pricing of sorted office paper (SOP).

For a look at other trends, Moore advised attendees to consider his company’s "Globalising Recovered Fibre Markets" report, available through www.globalrecyclefiber.com.