Average Paper Prices Moved Lower Last Year

Data from the monthly Transaction Price Survey conducted by Purchasing magazine, a sister publication to GAM, shows that paper prices moved broadly lower between the third and fourth quarters of last year.

Average prices recorded during the final quarter of last year were lower than in the third quarter for eight of the nine categories followed here (the price for coated #1 was unchanged). Although Q4 2001 price drops for most paper product groups were relatively small, newsprint averaged 9.0% lower than Q3.

Compared to year-end 2000 levels, average transaction prices during December 2001 were lower for all of the paper products followed in the survey. Newsprint cost an average of $505 per ton in the final month of last year versus $600 per ton in December 2000, a decline of 15.8%. Also declining at double-digit rates over the most recent 12 months were the average prices received for bond, uncoated white #1 (-14.8%), supercalendered-uncoated groundwood (-14.6%), coated #3 (-13.0%), coated #5 (-12.3%), and offset-uncoated white (-12.0%).

None of the paper product groups tracked in the survey recorded price increases in any month during Q4 2001. However, the declines appear to be bottoming out, with only two categories recording price declines in December.