Market Report
Quiet and stable market
NL-Tilburg, October 12th 2025
Price negotiations in Europe have been concluded for October. Low grades remain the same, some medium grades are down €5 to €10, de-inking grades for graphic paper remain more or less the same, anyway within a range of -€5 to 0. All paper and board producers need lower purchase prices, but a combination of factors is apparently preventing this. Limited generation, export prices, pressure on sales prices for (new) finished paper and board, which implicates that lower raw material prices are undesirable, etc., etc.
In exports to Asia, prices for occ (cardboard) are also slowly declining. Little by little towards lower prices, but for the time being, and again this week, this is being offset by a more expensive US dollar.
We are seeing a similar picture in the USA. Export prices for occ (kls) to Asia from the US are also down fractionally, by £3 to £5 per tonne, on both the West and East Coasts. This has also translated into price reductions for cardboard (occ) on the local market of £5 per tonne in virtually all regions except the West Coast. The reason for the price reductions in the US is said to be a slight increase in collection and high stocks at local mills. Orders are also down for most paper and board producers, possibly due to the government shutdown, which is expected to reduce consumer spending. Thousands of civil servants who are sitting at home unpaid cannot even spend, not even during Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. The end of November is still a long way off, but orders for spending then should be placed now. However, the feeling is that orders are already declining due to the shutdown. That may be so. Death always has a cause. It seems more like a global problem, caused by overcapacity in everything, planned during turbulent demand for everything during Covid and built thereafter, while demand had long since normalised.
In our chain, the start-up of new capacities is still ongoing, although there are also capacity reductions due to the closure of unprofitable
capacities. However, this does not balance each other out, so an increase in capacities is still the order of the day.
Furthermore, although this comes as no surprise, middle and high grades in the US are down by £10 per tonne, both in exports and locally. This is a development that we are also seeing in Europe. The reason: despite the declining generation of these grades, competition from wood pulp (cellulose) is fierce. Cheap pulp is being offered in Europe, mainly from China, in addition to all the other products that China offers, whether or not these have been shifted from the US to Europe due to import tariffs or simply because the overproduction cannot be sold 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.