Seasonal depression.With supply up and mills seemingly full of inventory, the outlook for the old corrugated cor·ru·gate v. cor·ru·gat·ed, cor·ru·gat·ing, cor·ru·gates v.tr. To shape into folds or parallel and alternating ridges and grooves. v.intr. container (OCC OCC See: Options Clearing Corporation OCC See Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). ) market is sluggish so far in the fourth quarter of 2006. The OCC market has been weak since the late summer months and shows no signs of likely improvement, sources say. "The mills are full--I don't see [prices] going up any time soon," says one Northeastern broker. Part of the problem is the usual seasonal depression. Massive orders for packaging materials in advance of the busy December holiday season were made months ago, and as those goods find their way to America's retail outlets retail outlet n → punto de venta retail outlet n → point m de vente retail outlet retail n → , the packaging material has already found its way back into the supply chain, leaving the market saturated. On the export front, China continues to buy material, but "not enough to take the edge off" the glut glut pronounced as rut, slut Vox populi An excess of a service or skilled labor in a particular area. See Physician glut. of domestic supply, says one Midwestern recycler. While OCC has been lackluster lately, other grades have faired better, particularly old newspapers (ONP ONP Open Network Provision(ing) ONP Olympic National Park ONP Old Newspapers (pulp and paper inustry) ONP One Nation Party ONP Operation Na Pali (gaming) ONP One Night Process ). Prices for that grade have either remained basically unchanged or even gone up a few dollars, depending on the region. Sources say the insulation market is the primary driver for the success of ONP, particularly now during insulators' peak season as winter approaches. Supply of ONP can be expected to increase in the coming weeks as many newspapers grow fatter with increased advertising in advance of the coming holidays. High grades, particularly sorted office paper (SOP), are faring well, fetching fetch·ing adj. Very attractive; charming: a fetching new hairstyle. fetch  ing·ly adv. the high end of published prices, or even $5 more in the Northeast. Mixed paper, however, has followed the OCC market more closely and has been slow to move in recent weeks. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Longer-term, major news publishers, such as Time Inc. and News Corp., are examining ways their organizations could leave a smaller footprint on the environment. While using less paper is one option, so is increasing the percentage of recycled-content paper. (Additional news about paper recycling Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products. There are three categories of paper that can be used as feedstocks for making recycled paper: mill broke, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste. markets, including breaking news and pricing, is available online at www.RecyclingToday.com.) |
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