Kent, United Kingdom 24 March 2015 -- The prevailing topic in the UK recovered paper market in March was the abrupt closure of Aylesford Newsprint, which triggered a noticeable drop in prices of deinking grades and mixed paper.

The British recovered paper market had not yet fully digested the impact of the capacity closure at UPM's Shotton mill when the next bad news of the closure of Aylesford Newsprint hit the market. It was particularly the speed of the closure that had caught the market off guard, commented experts. The mill had an annual recovered paper consumption of 450,000 t.

As a consequence, prices for deinking grades nosedived, taking the price of mixed paper with them. According to experts, however, demand from buying agents in the UK and in European and Asian (Indonesia and India) markets was high so a "complete collapse" could be avoided. Insiders believe that it will take months until the market for recovered paper for deinking will rebalance itself again.