Prices of waste paper and thus of corrugated base papers have been forced up by the withdrawal from the European market of substantial quantities of paper by countries in the Asian region. The first effect of this on the European and Hungarian markets was February’s 25-30 euro increase in the price per tonne of waste-based corrugated base papers, testliner and wellenstoff, followed by a further rise of 20-25 euros in March. According to information from the Hungarian Packaging and Material Handling Federation these two price hikes add up to a 15-20 per cent increase in waste-based base paper prices, forcing a major price rise on the already hard-pressed corrugated packaging industry. The organisation’s experts also forecast a rise of some 50 euros, or 10-15 per cent, in the price per tonne of white and brown kraftliner papers in the second half of March. Manufacturers have already secured customer acceptance of this rise, which is expected to be paralleled by semichemical pulp paper prices.
Chinese companies’ increased purchases of polymer waste for reprocessing has prompted waste recycling companies active in EU member states to request Brussels for greater protection via amendment of the directive on packaging material recycling. According to European Plastics Converters (EUPC), Chinese competition is depriving European manufacturers of their raw materials, causing secondary products, made out of plastic waste, to be more expensive and thus uncompetitive against primary materials.
Source:Világgazdaság |
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