Global Paper Chemicals Demand Decreases

According to the latest research report of SRI Consulting, the demand for special paper chemicals in the world will decline slightly at an average annual rate of 0.2% from 2008 to 2013 due to the decline in paper consumption in the publishing and packaging industry worldwide, especially in Europe. Changes in demand vary greatly from region to region.

According to Ray Weir, a senior consultant at SRI, “The demand for newsprint is continuously declining, but the speed has begun to slow. The current demand for paper in the publishing industry is the prevalence of e-readers. Although the impact is still very small, In the long run, the popularity of e-readers will have a significant negative impact on the paper and paper chemicals market.” Weill said that in the past 20 years, the profitability of the pulp and paper industry has been gradually decreasing. Two of the top 15 paper companies in North America have filed for bankruptcy protection this year.

In different regions of the world, the demand for specialty paper chemicals in the next few years will vary greatly. The average annual decline in the North American Free Trade Area is only 0.5%, because the region has already experienced the severe impact of the electronics industry in the publishing industry. The current impact in this area has slowed down; the demand for special paper chemicals in the European region will be The average annual rate of 2% declines because the electronic publishing industry in the region has only just begun. At the same time, Europe is the global advocate for packaging reduction. The annual growth rate of the special paper chemicals market in Japan is 0.2%; the Chinese market The average annual growth rate of demand will reach 6%. This is because China has added a large amount of papermaking capacity in recent years and started to produce high-grade paper.

However, SRI pointed out that China currently mainly produces some low-grade paper and paperboard. The demand for special paper chemicals from these products is very small. Therefore, the increase in demand in the Chinese market has not provided too much for international special paper chemical producers. opportunity. Will said that China's growth is more about packaging and low-grade products, and that these areas are increasingly capable of self-sufficiency.

Will also analyzed that another trend of consumption changes is that educational materials have also begun to shift from textbooks to the Internet, which will also reduce the amount of paper used, thus reducing the demand for specialty paper chemicals.