Newsprint downslide reaches developing world

Newsprint downslide reaches developing world

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

The massive downturn in consumption of newsprint and printing-writing paper is beginning to reach the developing world, thanks mostly to increased digital and online reading and filing.

According to recovered paper expert Bill Moore, speaking at Waste Expo in Las Vegas earlier this week, the industry is beginning to see a dip in paper production and consumption, particularly in the grades of old newspapers (ONP) and printing-writing paper. "Use of ONP is sluggish," said Moore, president of Moore & Associates. "There are zero facilities planned to make newsprint anywhere in the word — even China hasn't built an ONP plant in five years."

Of course, U.S. use of ONP is still dropping, with Moore saying that the available supply for recovery will go below 8.7 million metric tons by 2015, less than half of where it was in 2004, at 17.5 million metric tons. Printing-writing is no different, seeing a "25 percent market loss in the last four years, with more to come."

Moore also discussed the volatile nature of mixed paper, comparing the fact that "20 years ago, it essentially had no market value," to the high prices the grade can sometimes muster now. Prices that are so high, it can keep processors from sorting incoming fiber as it is often being substituted for old corrugated cardboard (OCC). "Why should I sort, if mixed is 90-95 percent of the price of OCC?" Moore asked.

Boxboard production also will continue to drop, Moore says, with North American mill shutdowns and conversions continuing apace. Finally, Moore predicts more "press releases for selling mills for scrap metal" because the equipment is no longer needed.

Moore also discussed findings that recovery rates for many developed economies are beginning to slow and that the "big, new tons will come from the developing world." He also tied high recovery rates to the countries that have high disposal costs, such as Japan, The Netherlands, Austria and Germany.

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