Stormy Forecast for Paper Buyers

The dollar is almost certainly going to continue its swoon, so don’t look for much help from Europe. Asia, however, appears to be another matter. The currency problem is just as nasty against the yuan, but China and Indonesia have shown a strong interest in cracking our mighty market.

Will shipping Chinese paper across an ocean and half a continent fix things? Not so fast. The price of pulp is higher in Asia, where fiber sources include imported pulp. Asian mills began introducing their wares at startlingly low prices, but have steadily edged upward. The currency exchange problem and the threat of a future tariff all suggest that Asian papers will not radically alter our paper landscape.