Market Report
Palm UK also converts to recycled liner board
NL-Tilburg, 19 July 2026
On Tuesday July 21st our Belgian depots are closed for the National holiday
A notable development this week was Palm’s announcement that it is to convert its mill in King’s Lynn, UK, to produce recycled liner board. This comes as no surprise given the shrinking market for newsprint, but it is surprising in that Palm, as the only remaining newsprint producer in the UK, would be one of the very last to survive in a country that is still a major consumer of newsprint. However, it appears that the disadvantages have outweighed the advantages, and the decision has been taken to begin the conversion in early 2027. This, alongside the planned start-up of the Eren conversion in Deeside at the end of the year, will create an additional demand for around 1.2 million tonnes of paperboard. With the closure this month of SSK, Smurfit Westrock’s mill in Birmingham, on balance over 1 million tonnes of cardboard grades will still need to be sourced as raw material within the UK. That quantity is available, but, as is well known, it is largely exported to Asia. This could yet turn into an interesting battle, unless the UK were at some point to decide to follow the EU’s deterrence policy, the ultimate aim of which is to ban the export of waste paper. We are not there yet. However, developments are also taking place in countries that import recovered paper, as China has tightened its quality requirements for recycled pulp, putting pressure on the large-scale production that began in neighboring countries following China’s ban on waste paper imports. Optimists believe things will not come to that, whilst pessimists foresee a possible end to the production of recycled pulp and, with it, the loss of a major market for American double-sorted OCC.
In the short term – that is, right now – this news has led to a sharp fall in demand for cardboard grades in the US and, consequently, downward pressure on prices. In Europe, this has barely prompted any reaction whatsoever. Demand for occ grades from the European paper and board industry remains strong, although we have not yet seen the hoped-for price improvement during the holiday period due to the lower generation. This may still happen, but is becoming less likely given the reduction in demand on the US market.
Not much is happening with middle and high grades either. It cannot be ruled out that the news from King’s Lynn will create some negative sentiment in the market for low de-inking grades, now that demand of nearly 500,000 tonnes on an annual basis is set to disappear. On the other hand, it may well be that this volume will no longer be sold separately on the market but will instead be used
by Palm UK in a mixed form for the production of testliner and fluting. After all, the proportion of cardboard in household collections is still rising in the UK too.
As far as collection figures are concerned, Euwid reported this week that in Germany, the generation of recovered paper in 2025 had fallen by 4 per cent compared with 2024. Compared with 2010, the volume was even 20 per cent lower. There is certainly a lot of moaning within our sector, but this simply highlights why.
In other news from the UK, Sonoco Halifax has stopped processing post-consumer beverage packaging. The volume of that separate stream will therefore also have to find a market elsewhere.
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.