(www.chinapaperonline.com) As if easing the anxiety of the industry, Chinese authorities released the 13th lot of recovered paper import quota for year 2019 on October 17th. In the 405,890 metric tons total, over 70% of the volume was allocated to the top-3 paper and board manufacturers in the country - Nine Dragons, Lee&man and Shanying Paper, while the balance seasoning more than 10 other mainstream producers located in the Eastern and Southern parts of China.
It is expected that some of the allocation will quickly be used by Chinese mill buyers to cover shipment already in water made prior to quota release from North America and Europe, but hardly for new orders as time is running out for North American and European suppliers to fill orders and meet with the traditional request by Chinese mill buyers that shipment arrive in Chinese destination ports prior to December 10th to allow port clearance and trucking to the Chinese paper/board mills before December 20th.
So far, Chinese authorities have released 10.84 million metric tons of recovered paper import quota for year 2019, significantly less than that of 2018! If more volume under quota will be released in the balance of the year, Chinese mill buyers can either quickly shop from Japan and neighboring Asian markets, or take more in-transit tonnages shipped from North America and Europe. Either way, however, such buying can hardly have significant impacts on the RCP market short term and may leave more uncertainties worldwide into 2020.