Several views on globalization as it concerns the recovered fiber business were offered by presenters at a session titled “One World, Several Markets” at the 2010 European Paper Recycling Conference (EPRC).
Richard Getkate of the Netherlands-based CVB EcoLogistics acquired his global viewpoints from having lived in Tanzania and Sri Lanka and having been involved in hotel management throughout the world.
The company Getkate now works for ships about 70 percent of its supply to Europe and 30 percent overseas, although at times the overseas percentage has been higher, he noted.
China and India represent two major overseas markets, but two very different ones, Getkate commented. China contains many newer, larger mills while Indian mills tend to be smaller and running older machinery.
Getkate said that demographics favor India slowly beginning to gain ground on China in terms of GDP growth and paper production. If current trends continue, India’s population will be larger than China’s in 2030.
Michael Belus, director-International Trading for U.S. -based GP Harmon Recycling, presented a chart listing 11 new paper mills or paper machines currently being installed in India.
His forecast for India has it doubling its paper and paperboard production capacity between 2004 and 2014, from 6 million to 12 million tons per year. This will likely also double the nation’s recovered fiber consumption, from 3 million tons per year to 6 million.
As did Getkate, Belus referred to the Indian market as “highly fragmented” with small, family-owned mills that place orders for 200 to 500 tons of fiber.
Bob Kovich of Jordan Trading provided an overview of market conditions in the United States. He referred to challenges in single-stream collection and processing that have affected paper quality, including broken glass and plastics.
Thanks to continued global demand for recovered fiber and positive attitudes toward recycling, said Kovich, “the recycling business is definitely on the right side” in the current market.
Paper and recycling industry consultant Bill Moore of Moore & Associates, Atlanta, provided some statistical snapshots on containerboard overcapacity in Europe and the United States and other factors affecting the market.
Moore predicted stable to slowly rising pricing for most recovered paper grades. “World demand will continue upward through 2011, boosted by the start-up of more recycled-content based mill capacity,” he stated.
The 2010 European Paper Recycling Conference was Nov. 3-4 at the Sheraton Congress Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.
Source : www.recyclingtoday.com
