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Paper Prices Bottom Out
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Paper Prices Bottom Out

There are numerous signs of rising prices on the paper market. The market may have reached a cyclical nadir at the beginning of April and could continue to recover in the near future thanks to a foreseeable recovery of the global economy. According to an analysis by Mads Asprem of Merrill Lynch, around 64 per cent of the world's paper market's production capacity is found in North America and Europe. "We expect to see clear signs of a recovery in the paper sector in the year 2003," say analysts at Salomon Smith Barney, who assume that the market will then reach a cyclical peak in 2004. Structural changes in the global paper industry could in this cycle lead to a sustained recovery, says Matthew K. Berler of Morgan Stanley. The market for pulp and paper is in the initial stage of a longer upward trend, believes Berler. Mads Asprem is more cautious. He points to the fact that paper prices have fallen by around 2 per cent in real terms in the last 15 years.

Source: UK. Press