Market Report

It is what it is

NL-Tilburg, 7 June 2026

Today’s market is perhaps the new reality. A market with little movement, sufficient availability for all paper and board mills, but certainly no surplus that leads to significant price pressure. This is because generation is weak and that limits supply. This is not good for our cost price per tonne, and that is where the main problem lies. It is essential to scrutinize costs closely and, above all, to aim for a sufficient margin to cover these costs. This is no easy task, because it is precisely due to the lower volume available that we are still stuck in the old mindset that volume is ‘king’. That is not the case now, so we must calculate differently – and, above all, more carefully. The recovered paper market is undergoing consolidation, so those who fail to adapt will disappear.  And, if it were to ease the pain at all, the entire supply chain is grappling with the same problem: insufficient orders and so insufficient machine utilization.

This is also being felt in other parts of the world, where in India the demand for recovered paper is ‘moderate’ due to moderate order books. It is spreading to the rest of Asia, where sales are there, but there is no real demand where price negotiations are possible. The price is the price, and that’s that. 
It is no different in Europe. Sales are continuing, but the paper and board industry is being supplied with sufficient volumes, not least because local European prices are close to export price levels. If there is anything positive to report, it is that transport availability is improving. We have now left behind a period of various public holidays across different European regions, and with that we seem to be moving towards a ‘normal’ situation. Hopefully, we will soon be able to deliver our sold volumes to our customers on time again.

This week, tissue manufacturer Wepa announced that it is halting production on a machine at its mill in Bridgend (UK), and earlier that the converting plant of Wepa van Houtum in Swalmen (NL) is to close by the end of the year. So, there will be no more finished products in Swalmen, only mother reels. This will result in the loss of 67 jobs. The paper mill will continue to operate and will therefore also continue to purchase recovered paper. So that’s good news for our industry.  There is still bad news on the recycled plastics front, where, despite the possibility of exporting with notification, exports are struggling to get off the

ground. And this is despite the fact that the ILT, the Dutch authority responsible for this area, is being as flexible as possible. It is worth noting that for once. But the destination countries must also cooperate, and the story goes that, for example, of the 650 notifications requested for Turkey – until recently a major buyer of European recycled plastic – not a single application for notification has been approved. Where this is heading remains a mystery.
However, exports to a number of countries where notification was previously required are continuing as normal. So that offers some consolation.      

Price indication

Price indication in Europe for low grades of recovered paper, sorted, baled and ex works are now between € 60 and € 80 per tonne. These prices are depending on quality, available volume, region and loaded weight.

Look here at the Price chart >> 
  
The price chart gives an indication of the price  of mixed paper, separately collected, in the Netherlands free delivered mill over the last 10 years.
Scrolling over the top of the columns gives the exact price indication in Euro's per ton.