As we near the end of 2009, I think it best to simply say this year was primarily flat in terms of pricing and marketing for scrap paper and plastic. Sure there were some upward trends and certainly some recovery from a year ago, but overall most of the supply and demand is in decent balance.
Various regions of the country saw somewhat different trends. If it was weather in the Southeast shortening the supply of OCC, a slowdown of exporting out of the various ports or the overall doldrums of the economy, there just wasn’t a lot of excitement.
There are mills in the Northeast and some in the Southeast who are a bit concerned over supply and are building inventories. Do the suppliers have the product? We’ll know soon enough after the Christmas season what comes out or not because so much is based on what you and I buy retail and recycle the cartons.
Our company made major strides coming off of a year of re-building after our fire. With extra efforts and working double time, we were able to survive, increase our customer base and yes, increase our overall volumes as a result. We overcame the attrition of not our customers, but their volumes, and are sitting in the best position we have been in years.
All of us at our respective companies wish everyone a healthy and happy holiday season.
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