Head of Arkhangelsk pulpmill board: next year will bring growth for pulp & paper industry

Arkhangelsk, December 28. Head of Arkhangelsk pulpmill’s board of directors Heinz Zinner gave his forecast on the industry in 2013.

Until recently, there was no possibility to evaluate clearly state of the pulp and paper industry, Dr. Zinner said. Europe and North America produce more than they can consume, and production of pulp, paper and board is decreasing there. The same applies to Japan. In other regions, there is fast growth of home consumption like China and South-East Asia. Some have competitive advantages like South America.

Evaluating key trends in the industry, Heinz Zinner noted that the recent crisis was a consumption indicator for some market sectors and hurt such product niches as newsprint, LWC and wood-free paper.

Talking on Russia’s accession to WTO and its influence on pulp & paper in Russia, Arkhangelsk pulpmill board director noticed that 85% of Russian pulp, board and paper are made by large companies that make competitive products in terms of both quality and costs.

“For sure, there will be some rules of the game, but this will be a controlled process”, Zinner noted, “Under these circumstances small and obsolete market players will suffer difficulties”.

One should hope that Russia with its reach forest and energy reserves will invest into new capacities like China, Indonesia or Chile, Zinner said, however, there is much talking about it, but not much have changed.

Talking on perspectives of the industry in 2013, Arkhangelsk board director predicted growth of pulp and paper production on the global scale. In some regions growth will be minimal, but Central & Eastern Europe, China, South America, and South-East Asia will show good demand and constant growth. This will offset poor consumption in Western Europe and North America.

“Corrugated and tissue markets that are basic for enterprises of Pulp Mill Holding GmbH, Arkhangelsk pulpmill and Kiev pulpmill, have the brightest perspective in 2013”, Zinner concluded.