Norpac announces paper price hikes amid tight capacity, rising costs

Investing.com - NORPAC, a private paper producer, announced a 5-8% price increase on uncoated freesheet and uncoated mechanical papers in North America effective July 1, according to a Thursday report from RISI cited by Truist.

The increase applies to NORPAC's Norbrite-branded offset and book grades, Orca UCFS products, and cutsize papers. The company did not provide a rationale for the price hike.

Truist believes the increase is driven by tight industry capacity, potential supply rationalization, recent demand improvement, lower imports, and rising input costs. Some RISI contacts suggested the move could be related to mill uncertainty following the recent Nippon Dynawave incident, which disrupted the flow of slurry pulp used to make UCFS to NORPAC.

The announcement follows similar increases from several other major North American UCFS producers. NORPAC is implementing a similar 5-8% increase on uncoated mechanical papers in North America effective July 1.

Truist views the increase as positive for NYSE:SLVM and NYSE:PKG, the second- and third-largest North American UCFS producers, which have each announced their own June price increases.

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