(www.chinapaperonline.com) Chinese authorities released the 14th lot of recovered paper import quota for year 2019 on November 5. As tiny as 42,370 metric tons, the amount was granted to 12 Chinese paper and board companies, with Lee&man (Jiangsu) alone capturing 20,190 metric tons, or 47.65% of the total.
While not sure of how many more lots will be granted in the balance of 2019, it is certain that full year allocation will be much less than that of 2018 and actual delivery of recovered paper into China in the whole year 2019 will shrink significantly. Recent industry survey showed that even with import quota, some Chinese paper manufacturers were not able to source and fulfill orders. This is especially true for newsprint producers, such as Huatai Paper and Guangzhou Paper, who have encountered tighter supply of clean ONP and over-issue news (OIN) worldwide since the start of the year.