RECOVERED FIBRE>>NORTH AMERICA

The article below was written by Jonathan Gold of the Newark Group, and circulated by Recycling Today . Mr. Gold is considered one of the leading experts in the recycled fibers industry and we thank him for allowing us to further circulate his comments.


RECOVERED FIBRE>>NORTH AMERICA

For several months, fibre generation has continued to remain soft as a direct reflection of the current recession and softness in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Another factor affecting generation is that the U.S. is growing as a paperless society, with few newspapers, magazines and books being produced.

Local, regional and national demands for recovered fibre are exceptionally strong. Prices for many grades are at the highest they have been in the past 15 years. This is due to the weather conditions, overseas growth in demand and low inventories at domestic mills.

At present, both India and Asia continue to purchase material from the U.S. However, the real driving force in the increase in prices is being driver by the U.S. paper mills.

Demand for just about all grades of scrap paper remains strong, with corrugated and mixed paper leading the bulk grades and sorted office paper leading the deinking grades. Pulp substitutes also remain strong throughout the country.

That said, there are some transportation problems with trucks because of serious weathers conditions on the East Coast, along with the shortage of export containers at various ports throughout the United States.