Folding boxboard price hike imminent, says Iggesund

Iggesund Paperboard said that the weakness of sterling, added to high raw materials prices in recent years, had made current pricing levels unsustainable, and that it would be raising prices in the near future to deal with the shortfall.

According to the company, board prices in continental Europe are currently EUR900-EUR1,100 per tonne. In the UK, prices are around £680-£790 per tonne, which at current exchange rates equates to EUR780-EUR900 – making a difference of 15% to 20% in prices between the UK and the Eurozone.

Björn Kvick, president of Iggesund Paperboard, said: “Even if the pound sterling has slightly recovered against the Euro and might rise further, the differential will remain unacceptably large and we have every intention of addressing this issue short term.”

Kvick also highlighted “unprecedented” raw material prices had been undermining the profitability of board makers for several years.

He argued that recent falls in raw material price were “far from offsetting” the longer-term rises in costs.

Iggesund, which is part of paper group Holmen, twice raised prices last year for its Incada and Invercote brands, blaming high raw material and energy costs.