Quarterly Report – September 2020

The third quarter of 2020 began with a 40% price fall for both recovered and finished paper. Owing to steps taken towards normalization, mills were operating at 80% of their capacity during this period but, given that neither local collection rates nor recovered paper stocks were at desired levels, mills were forced to continue to rely on imports in both July and August.

Mills that increased their sales prices in August had to raise their recovered paper purchasing prices by 20% during the same period. The Turkish government changed the regulations to limit the import share to a maximum of 50%, having been at 80%. In addition to this limit, the devaluation of the Turkish lira made imports a very expensive method of obtaining the material needed.

Expectations for the fourth quarter are of a price drop in Europe as some mills are shutting down their operations because China has stopped importing from Europe. If this situation continues, Turkey may start importing from Europe again.

At present, all direct and indirect investments have come to a halt. With COVID-19 case numbers increasing all over the world, no major change in market conditions is anticipated for the fourth quarter.

Ekrem Demircioglu - Ekrem Demircioglu (Turkey)

Ekrem Demircioglu

(TUR)


Country
Turkey
Issue
Quarterly Report – September 2020