Paper companies raise prices, market is improving

　　Since October this year, many paper-making companies have carried out one or more rounds of price increases. Many of the company's bases have announced price increases. Paper companies from all over the country have followed suit, setting off a new round of price increases in the entire paper-making industry.

　　In the first half of this year, the performance of many paper companies declined in the third quarter, and capacity expansion put greater pressure on the industry. “The main reasons for large-scale price increases in the papermaking industry are, on the one hand, cost requirements, and on the other hand, market demand is gradually recovering.” Chenming Paper said that at present, the papermaking industry has bottomed out and rebounded. Recently, driven by factors such as improvement in supply and demand, many paper companies have issued price increase notices.

　　Recent research reports from a number of brokerage firms stated that the room for further decline in pulp may be limited, and as downstream demand gradually enters the traditional peak season, paper companies' profits are expected to recover in the fourth quarter.

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Paper prices continue to rise

　　Since the end of the National Day holiday, the corrugated boxboard market has been rising. As of this week, some large-scale manufacturers have raised base paper prices for 4-6 consecutive rounds, maintaining a price increase rhythm of once a week or every two weeks. Downstream paperboard mills also have the third round of price increases.

　　Taking corrugated paper as an example, Zhuochuang Information data shows that the price of corrugated paper at Nine Dragons Paper's Tianjin and Dongguan bases will increase by 30 yuan/ton from November 20, and Nine Dragons Paper's Shenyang base plans to increase the price of corrugated paper by 30 yuan/ton on November 25. tons, Henan Henry Paper's high-strength corrugated paper prices also began to rise on November 20.

　　At the same time, taking the Tianjin base of a large-scale paper mill as an example, the ex-factory price of corrugated paper has been raised for four consecutive rounds since October this year, with the cumulative increase reaching 120 yuan/ton. As of November 18, the monthly market price of China's AA-grade 120g corrugated paper was 2,710.63 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.66% from the price at the beginning of the month.

　　In addition to corrugated paper, Nine Dragons Paper's Shenyang base and Dongguan base plan to increase the price of kraft cardboard by 30 yuan/ton on November 25. Nine Dragons Paper's Tianjin base will increase the price of Hailong and Dilong kraft cardboard by 30 yuan/ton on November 20. Yuan/ton. At the same time, Hebei Tangshan Jiluan Paper has recently raised the price of containerboard paper by 30 yuan/ton.

　　Zhangzhou Dinglongtai Paper Products, Fujian Xinlong Packaging Products, Xiamen Bicheng Packaging/Zhangzhou Changtai Bicheng Packaging, and other companies will increase the price of cardboard they undertake by 2% based on the existing price due to cost reasons.

The industry may bottom out and rebound

　　Industry insiders believe that demand for related paper products has been stable and improving recently, providing support for price increases. According to statistics from Zhuochuang Information, as of November 14, the sample inventory of upstream paper mills has dropped to 361,200 tons, a decrease of 8.37% from the end of last month. The stable production of upstream paper mills, coupled with the growth in demand, has optimized the market supply and demand structure and strongly supported the continued rise in prices in the corrugated paper market.

　　Sun Paper believes that the reasons for this round of price increases are, first, the demand side and downstream demand will be boosted by the end of the year; second, companies also have price guarantee needs; third, the cost pressure caused by the continued high prices of production raw materials. Orient Securities stated that the current spot price of pulp has been in a phased bottoming stage, and the downstream demand has gradually shifted to the traditional peak season, especially holiday orders such as New Year's Day and Spring Festival, which are expected to be gradually released at the end of November or early December. It is expected that the prices of cultural paper and special paper may gradually stabilize.

　　Liu Qingqing, an analyst at Zhuochuang Information, said in an interview with a reporter from Securities Daily that “as the demand side steadily improves, industry chain profits may recover. It is expected that the gross profit margin of the corrugated and containerboard paper industry will continue to recover in 2025.”.