It was mid-April, and the overall packaging paper market was operating weakly, with a slight downward revision compared with the beginning of the month. The downstream paperboard market is also going up and down. Some paperboard factories in Fujian have raised 5%, and some paperboard factories in Jiangxi have started to lower. On the whole, the second quarter is not a traditional peak season. The terminal demand is general. The price trend of packaging paper and cardboard is likely to fluctuate slightly.

        The overall weak operation of the packaging paper market

        According to the data monitoring of the business agency, the waste paper market has been turbulent recently. The average purchase price of the national waste yellow paperboard market on April 9 was 2296.43 yuan/ton, which was an increase of 75.72 yuan/ton compared to April 1. 3.41%. The price of corrugated paper declined slightly. The average ex-factory price of 140g raw paper was 3,500 yuan/ton, which was a decrease of 75 yuan/ton, or 2.1%, compared with April 1.

         However, in each region, the paper price trend of each province and city is different.

         Among them, Hebei Province has recently issued a number of price increase letters. For example, Baoding Zeyu Paper announced an increase of 50 yuan/ton from April 8; Shahe City Jinxin Paper announced an increase of 50 yuan/ton for high-strength corrugated paper on April 8. Tons; Shahe City Jiufa Paper announced an increase of 100 yuan/ton for high-strength corrugated paper on April 8, and Botou Longda Paper announced an increase of 50 yuan/ton from April 7.

         In other provinces and cities, some paper mills have cut prices. Take Shangqiu Jiasheng Paper Co., Ltd. in Henan Province as an example. The paper company lowered the price of corrugated paper on April 9th, and the price of some weights was lowered by 100-150 yuan/ton.

         Of course, the price of paper in more regions has not fluctuated significantly, and mainly wait-and-see. According to the analysis of Longzhong Information, the current corrugated and containerboard market is operating weakly, but the prices are all at a high level in the historical four-year price range. It is expected that in April, the     corrugated and containerboard paper market may fluctuate slightly, and the shipments of paper companies may partly improve, but it is difficult for the overall market to improve significantly.

          At the same time, according to Zhuo Chuang Information's forecast, terminal demand is expected to show a slow recovery in 2021. The overall release in the second quarter is limited. Downstream packaging plants mainly consume inventory and use on-demand procurement. At the end of the second quarter, packaging plants may increase their inventory. Specifically, the fluctuating range of corrugated paper in the second quarter is 3850-4000 yuan/ton; the fluctuating range of containerboard paper in the second quarter is expected to be 4950-5045 yuan/ton.

          The price of cardboard goes up and down

          The steady and declining paper price market has caused mixed fluctuations in the downstream packaging market.

          According to the author’s understanding, on April 9, Jinjiang Xinda Carton Packaging Co., Ltd. and Fujian Zehe Packaging Co., Ltd. issued a price increase letter stating that in view of the recent increase in raw material prices, in order to ease the company’s normal production and operation, the original price will be increased by 5 %. Among them, the former rose on April 9th, and the latter rose on April 10.

          Ganzhou Yuhua Packaging Technology Co., Ltd. stated that due to the recent drop in raw material prices and based on the business philosophy of cooperation and win-win, starting from April 10, 2021, the sales prices of cardboard and cartons will be adjusted up and down based on the original price.

          Fujian and Jiangxi are neighboring provinces, but judging from the publicly disclosed notification letter, the price trends of the cardboards of the two are different. It is understood that in the provinces of Fujian and Jiangxi, the price of cardboard is also showing a different situation.

          This situation is also the epitome of the current domestic cardboard market-limited by the industry's off-season, terminal demand is unlikely to rise significantly. The cardboard market as a whole fluctuates between provinces and cities, and prices vary.