Coated Market Appears Strong

Producers of coated Freesheet Papers have announced $50/ton price hikes effective immediately. The biggest driver is duties on Asian imports, which are limiting supply. Preliminary countervailing duties on Chinese, Indonesian and Korean imports are 18%, 21% and 2%, respectively. The next step is a Commerce Department ruling on antidumping duties, due out on
May 29th. Domestic shipments rose 10% in February ahead of possible duties on Asian imports. The coated Market has plateaued over the past six months.