Cascades Has Raised Price of URB, according to Truist Securities
Cascades has announced a US$70/ton price increase on uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) effective April 21, as reported by Truist Securities. This marks the fourth-largest North American URB producer by capacity. The announcement is seen as positive for Sonoco Products and Greif, following recent price hikes due to tightening market conditions and manufacturing cost inflation. URB demand remains steady, while capacity is being rationalized with Greif closing nearly 90k tons. Despite a decline in OCC prices, other costs remain elevated.
According to Truist Securities, Fastmarkets RISI reported Wednesday that Cascades announced a US$70/ton price increase on uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) effective April 21. It noted CAS is the fourth-largest North American URB producer by capacity.
Truist views this announcement as positive for Sonoco Products (SON) and Greif (GEF).
Truist said: "While the company did not provide a rationale for the increase, this announcement follows recent hikes from SON and GEF due to tightening market conditions and manufacturing cost inflation..... RISI previously noted that February URB demand was on par with or slightly behind strong January conditions."
It added: "At the same time, URB capacity is being rationalized with GEF announcing a near 90k ton capacity closure (Austell PM1 by end of March; Fitchburg mill by May) equating to 2.0-2.5% of US supply.... With respect to inputs, while OCC has declined near 36% y/y, other costs including freight, labor, maintenance, and overhead costs, amongst others, remain elevated."
