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Newsprint prices will soar

Good tidings may have come for the pulp and paper industry this year as analysts predicted a rise in newsprint pric…

Good tidings may have come for the pulp and paper industry this year as analysts predicted a rise in newsprint prices.
In a report published by the Globe and Mail, Daryl Swetlishoff, of Vancouver’s Raymond James Ltd. predicted newsprint prices will average $565 a tonne this year, up from the 2003 average price of $503. According to the newspaper, the RBC also forecasted the prices of northern bleached softwood kraft [NSBK] pulp to average $610 in the United States this year, up from the average of $553 in 2003.
Coming on the heels of major plant closings and temporary shutdowns by major pulp and paper producers in North America, the presidential elections in the U.S. and the summer Olympics in Athens will lead to more advertising activity thus increasing the newsprint demand, analysts said.
And, since the outlook for lumber remains grim, analysts are advising investors to switch from the construction sector companies into the pulp and paper stocks.