COVERAGE NOTE: Fastmarkets RISI launches recycled linerboard assessments

As previously announced, Fastmarkets RISI launched new price assessments for 30-/31-lb recycled linerboard in the US domestic market on Sept. 20, 2019.

The new price assessments will be published monthly in PPI Pulp & Paper Week’s Containerboard Price Watch, the Fastmarkets RISI online portal, and the mobile app. The new assessments will appear alongside existing assessments for unbleached kraft linerboard, white top linerboard, semi-chemical corrugating medium, and export kraft linerboard. They will be for two regions, the US East and the US West.

Fastmarkets RISI is launching these new assessments in response to the rapid growth of recycled over the last 10 years. Recycled linerboard’s share of the US domestic market hit 37% in 2018. Producers added 5.8 million tons of capacity to the market between 2013 and 2018 via a combination of new machines, converted machines, and incremental expansions. Planned and confirmed capacity expansions are expected to add another 1.8 million tons of recycled capacity between 2019 and 2021. Given these developments and our responsibility to provide customers with reliable and objective price information that is reflective of the market, Fastmarkets RISI has launched these new assessments.

Fastmarkets RISI began pricing the 30-/31-lb recycled linerboard on a test basis in March. Our economists have developed a 2-year synthetic historical price series for the new assessments. They will also be accompanied by a matching forecast price series, compiled by Fastmarkets RISI’s Analytics Group and published in Fastmarkets RISI’s Paper Packaging Monitor.

Fastmarkets RISI has prepared a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to guide customers through the launch of recycled linerboard assessments. To view the FAQs, please see here.

For comments or queries, please email pricing.risi@fastmarkets.com, mentioning “30-/31-lb US recycled linerboard” in the subject line of the email.

For more information on Fastmarkets RISI’s methodology for North American packaging paper and board, including the new assessments, please see here.

For other Fastmarkets RISI coverage notes please see here.