Market2Mill, Forest2Market’s recovered fiber price report and benchmark, will begin reporting Sorted Office Paper (SOP) prices and market trends in June 2012.
According to attorney James R. McGibbon, who rendered the anti-trust opinion that paves the way for the addition, the inclusion of SOP prices in Market2Mill will have significant impact on the industry: “There is very little transparency in sorted office paper pricing at present due to the lack of market reporting, and it seems quite possible that there are gross and unjustified discrepancies in prices of what are essentially commodity products. Improved pricing data to both sides in a competitive market should lead to more accurate pricing based on economic factors of supply and demand, thus improving market efficiency.”
Launched in April 2011, Market2Mill has already undergone several expansions. While the initial reports covered DLK and OCC, Forest2Market quickly accumulated enough data to split OCC prices into two categories: those traded under contract and those traded on the open market. The addition of SOP to the reports follows quickly on the heels of last week’s announcement that Mixed Paper pricing and trends will soon be added to the report.
According to Barbara Hudson, manager of Forest2Market’s recovered fiber practice, this addition further establishes Market2Mill as the industry standard. “Our recovered fiber business has experienced strong and consistent growth. We’ve doubled the number of products we report in just one year and increased the segments of the recovered fiber industry that we serve. With the inclusion of SOP prices in our price report and benchmarks, document destruction companies will—for the first time—have the tools they need to compare their performance to, and improve their performance against, the market.”
“Export markets have been drawing high volumes of fiber away from the US domestic supply,” said Hudson. “The strength of demand coming out of Asia in particular has created a price differential between export and domestic markets. By adding export prices to our reports, Market2Mill subscribers will have a global picture of the market.” This addition is anticipated to occur sometime during the second half of 2012.
Market2Mill is the only product on the market that reports volume weighted average prices derived from actual transactions submitted by subscribers, who use this to accurately assess their performance against the market and develop forward-looking pricing strategies.
Suz-Anne Kinney
Forest2Market: July 14, 2023
