4. Unprecedented market conditions -15% -12% -24% -2% -11% -15% -10% -14% -9% -12% -23% -14% -15% -11% -6% -18% -17% -12% -12% -19% Significant year on year decline in volumes in all European countries – But growth in other areas Source: Eugropa - Merchant total sales volumes YTD Nov ’09 vs. PY
10. Impact of Pulp Price Increase on Paper Production Cost vs. Paper Price Development Projection according to RISI’s forecast Projection according to announced increases Change vs. October, €/tn
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13. Manufacturing Base How are the Mills handling the economic downturn and declining returns ?
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16. Capacity v Demand Continued growth in demand for printing and writing papers combined with the increased utilisation rates by the mills (due to excess capacity being taken out of the market) is demonstrated by the shrinking gap between the demand and capacity lines.
In early 2009 it was clear that the economic downturn was far bigger than first predicted. It was not limited to specific regions and affected all major countries across all continents. Paper and Print consumption are a good barometer of the markets buoyancy – It is widely acknowledged that large companies first point of cost saving is on marketing and print materials. Across Europe the general decline in paper volumes was around minus 14%, with the worst affected areas being: Spain -23% and the Baltic region -24%. Closer to home Ireland saw a drop of -19% and the UK of -11%.