September saw an improved outlook for pulp prices in the main Chinese market, with North American and Western European markets continuing to soften, as global economic fundamentals continue to weigh heavily on fibre commodity markets. Bleached Softwood Kraft (BSK) prices declined only very marginally to USD580/t in China, while Bleached… Read More
October Revolution!
In one long and remarkable week, Norske Skog announced the closure of its Albury newsprint mill and the sale of it and related assets to Visy, Orora sold its Australasian fibre business to Nippon Paper Industries (NPI), the owner of Australian Paper and Cleanaway picked up most of the assets… Read More
2019 Strategic Review Now Available
IndustryEdge’s landmark Pulp & Paper Strategic Review is now available for subscription. Covering the Australian and New Zealand pulp, paper, paper-products and fibre supplies industries in unparalleled detail, the Strategic Review is the only data-rich, deep analysis of the entire sector. Now in its 28th annual edition, the Strategic Review… Read More
Orora sells Australasian fibre business to Nippon Paper
Orora has announced the sale of its Australasian fibre business to Nippon Paper Industries (NPI) for AUD1,720 million. In all, the transaction includes 25 manufacturing plants, 27 depots and involves more than 3,300 employees. The key to the transaction is Orora’s corrugated box business, including the Botany mill. The transaction is… Read More
Norske Skog’s Albury to close: Visy acquires assets
Australasia’s largest newsprint mill, the 265,000 tonne per annum Albury Mill (NSW) will close by the end of 2019. All of the mill’s approximately 185 employees will be made redundant. Announcing the closure, Norske Skog advised that it had sold the Albury assets to Visy, Australia’s largest paperboard manufacturer. After… Read More
Why Record Log Exports from South Asia are Under Pressure
Combined exports of softwood logs from New Zealand and Australia totalled 26.4 million cubic meters (m3) in the 2018-19 financial year. Total exports from the two countries lifted 9.5% compared to the prior year, in line with the 10.5% per annum increases recorded over the decade since 2009. When diving… Read More
Australian pulp consumption up for sixth successive year
Australia’s consumption of pulp lifted to 1,917.2 kt in 2018-19, rising 4.2% on the prior year, and by an average 2.4% per annum over the decade. The sixth successive annual increase in pulp consumption takes account of deinked pulp, but does not include recovered paper used locally. As the chart… Read More
Label imports roll up the local competition
Total consumption of labels and label paper has grown an average 3.1% per annum since 2009-10 in Australia. Total consumption was 43.7 kt in 2018-19 (down 6.8% on the prior year), made up of imports of fully converted Paper Labels and reels and sheets of Label Paper. Over the course… Read More
Grim quarter century for paper pricing
Australia’s imported Printing & Communication papers are, on average, 42.9% lower priced than they were twenty-five years ago, when increased manufacturing and related costs are taken into account. The table emphasises the point, showing the cash price per tonne of the main grades of Printing & Communication papers over the… Read More
Converted packaging imports up 7.5%
Annual imports of most pre-converted packaging materials continued to grow across the year-ended June 2019. Total volumes were recorded at 122,543 tonnes for the year, up 7.5% compared to the prior twelve months. Imports were again at record levels. Smaller sized Sacks and Bags < 40cm grade grew strongly, to… Read More