Market Report
China imports less packaging paper
NL-Tilburg, 18 oktober 2026
What appears to be a quiet market is, after all, largely a positive development. We’ve grown accustomed to the shipping challenges in the export sector, and you could say that, in the end, you get used to everything. As far as sales are concerned, demand in Southeast Asia remains strong, although prices remained unchanged, while Indapak is taking a brief pause. There’s still interest in high-quality occ (cardboard) and related grades, but the feeling is that prices might drop in November, so a wait-and-see approach prevails.
That’s not the sentiment in Southeast Asia, but with the upcoming blackout period in Indonesia and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding shipments, it’s quite risky to ship there. In other neighbouring countries, the situation is different, but the Chinese New Year plays a role there, with festivities and holidays set to begin as early as February 1. While February 1 is still a long way off, transit times are rising rapidly due to increasingly longer sailing times and the delayed availability of containers. Therefore, caution is advised.
This week, Euwid published 2025 figures on the Chinese paper and paperboard industry, sourced from the China Paper Association. The figures were not particularly encouraging, making it clear that also Chinese paper and board mills cannot escape the global slump caused by overcapacity. This is partly due to the Chinese producers themselves, as they, too, continue to expand their capacity. Therefore financially things weren't great either. Total revenue rose by 3%, while combined profits fell by 14%. Of the 2,553 producers included in the statistics, 730 reported losses—about 30%.
To focus briefly on the figures for corrugated paper—specifically testliner and medium—for which the primary source of raw materials for European recycled paper companies lies in Asia, here is a selection from the detailed information:
Recycled liner board, with a production volume of 65 million metric tons in 2025, accounted for by far the largest share of the 141 million metric
tons of paper and cardboard produced in total. This represented a 6% increase for testliner and a 3% increase for fluting compared to the previous year. However, the consumption of these two grades rose by only 2% to 71 million tonnes, resulting in an 18% decline in imports of testliner and a 15% decline in imports of fluting and more export, reducing the balance of those to less than 7 million tonnes.
So, this is not good news for countries exporting recycled liner board to China. But this partly explains why, in Europe, demand for recovered paper from Asian buyers outside China has not peaked since 2022.
Price indication
Price indication in Europe for low grades of recovered paper, sorted, baled and ex works are now between € 80 and € 100 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.