Stable and steady.

Following several months of falling prices, the recovered paper market has evened out in early 2006, with old corrugated containers (COO) hovering around $45 per ton.

Oversupply has kept the COO market depressed, sources say, with no signs of a shift in the near future.

In addition to the low, but stable, price of OCC, other grades remained relatively steady throughout the month of January and into early February, which comes as something of a surprise to some in the industry. "This time of year, it's sort of common for prices to be moving up for bulk grades, but we haven't seen that," says a broker on the West Coast. With plenty of paper to go around, prices have been on the low side. Material has been moving, but slowly.

One contributing factor could be that most regions have experienced a fairly mild winter so far, which has been helping collections.

One source reports that this is the case in the Northeast, where community collection programs that are usually stalled by snow this time of year have been up and running like normal.

This is true for curbside programs as well as for drop-offs, says a Midwestern packer. "People are going to the drop sites--if it were 20 below, they wouldn't be," the packer says.

Inventories of old newspapers (CNP) are particularly high in New England, one source reports.

A source in the Southwest reports that high grades in his region may have dropped slightly in price, while drinking grades have remained practically unchanged.

Sorted office pack (SOP) has seen strong volumes with end-of-the-year cleanouts taking place. Prices have taken an expected hit, although about a month earlier than usual, says a Midwestern packer. Sources say SOP prices should be expected to stay low in the coming months as tax season approaches in the United States, and people prepare to purge old files, flooding the market with material. "Volumes will just be unbelievable," one source says.

Overall, material is moving, just not at any great pace, sources say. While there may not be aggressive demand, there's been no hiatus in buying either.

Export activity has been equally stable, with the Chinese continuing a pattern of quiet, steady purchasing. Mexico also continues to buy U.S. scrap paper at a steady rate.

Trucking issues continue to pose problems for the industry, although they have eased up slightly. While the cost of trucking is still high because of soaring gas prices, trucks are at least more available lately, says one Midwestern packer. While the competition for trucks during the holiday season may be over, a source in the Southwest reports that there is still competition for trucks in that region with hurricane cleanup efforts still in full swing. Trucks are available, he says, but they need to be scheduled two or three days ahead of time.

Out on the West Coast, the industry is still struggling with the Pier Pass program, which was implemented in the summer of 2005 to try to ease shipping traffic in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Under Pier Pass, pier operators charge shippers fees for moving material during peak hours.

One source reports the system still has some bugs to work out. While many of the high-volume shippers are shipping in offpeak hours, some steam line offices aren't open or staffed at night, which creates problems if everything doesn't go smoothly. A source reports that some of the smaller companies with fewer containers to ship are just shipping during the day and paying the fees.

(Additional news about paper recycling markets, including breaking news and pricing, is available online at www Recycling Today.com.)