Italy's trash crisis creates opportunity for China
BOSTON, MA, June 19, 2008 - Italy's trash crisis could create an opportunity for China's fifty million tonne recovered paper industry, according to David Clapp, RISI's Recovered Paper Senior Economist. If Italy sold more of their recovered paper to China, says Clapp, "Italy could almost name its price." As the largest buyer of recovered paper in the world, China's demand for recovered fiber is soaring and will continue to rapidly increase thanks to new capacity at recovered paper mills and a booming manufacturing sector.
According to Clapp, recovered paper is forecasted to account for 65% of total paper and paperboard production in China by 2012. The price China pays for its imported recovered fiber is expected to rise to record highs in 2009. Consumer demand for recovered paper, along with the prices they pay, is also expected to climb.
Currently, southern Italy sends 60% of its trash to landfills. Of that percentage, Clapp estimates half is recyclable paper and paperboard, sellable as recovered fiber to China. Italy does export a growing amount of recovered fiber to China, sending four hundred thousand metric tonnes in 2007. However, the United Kingdom, whose population is similar to that of Italy, sends nearly six times that amount and is currently the largest European exporter. At over nine million tonnes in 2007, the United States is China's largest global supplier of recovered fiber.
Clapp's complete forecast and analysis of global recovered paper markets is available in RISI's latest World Pulp & Recovered Paper Forecast. For further information on the forecast, visit www.risiinfo.com/pulp5year.
About RISI
RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.
Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; São Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com.