According to Mark Wilde of Deutsche Bank
The 7 largest producers (75% of North American market) have announced a $50/ton price hike for early March. Inventories remain lean, operating rates are high, and fiber costs are rising. The big obstacle will be making a containerboard price hike "stick" in the wake of sluggish box demand. December 6.8% drop in box shipments appears an "overstatement" on the downside, but it does raise a yellow caution flag. Smurfit-Stone plans to install six new
corrugators (one per month) in the first half of '08 to create "super" plants, which will be capable of replacing as many as 2-3 existing plants.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment