Our newsletter this month begins with two articles included in our ten-part informational series aimed to answer questions about the old corrugated container (OCC) market and to provide alternative methods for measuring the performance of OCC recycling program contracts.
Large retailers contract with waste recovery vendors to remove cardboard shipping boxes from their waste streams and generally receive a payment or rebate that is tied to the price paid to the vendor by mills that use the boxes to manufacturer paper and packaging with recycled content. Known as old corrugated containers (OCC), these boxes are a global commodity for which there is significant demand.
Generators of large quantities of OCC (old corrugated containers) rarely see a price premium in their payments or rebates from their waste recovery vendors. But they should.
Raw material costs for containerboard mills in the US South and Pacific Northwest moved in opposite directions in 2013. Figures 1 and 2 compare 2013 average prices for conifer wood fiber, OCC and DLK with 2012 prices.
Relative softness in the market continued this week as the Upper Mid Atlantic and Northeast continued to thaw from the last two weeks of weather. News on the housing starts front and declining builder confidence numbers added to the weak sentiment.
Construction on at least two of three lumber mills planned by the Klausner Group will soon be underway. The Suwanee Democrat has reported underground utilities are installed and construction is set to begin at the site near Live Oak in Suwannee County, Florida.
Last week was a productive, albeit well overdue, one for the Farm Bill. President Obama signed the bill into law on Friday, February 7, shortly after the Senate approved the bill earlier in the week.
