German kraftliner prices might rise in February

Demand for kraftliner in Germany is strong at the moment, with e-commerce fuelling demand for packaging. This encourages suppliers to consider further price hikes, this time also for white-top kraftliner, from February.

January was a steady month on the German kraftliner market with no price changes following the hike that was implemented in December. Now, price increases are back on the agenda for February. This time, producers are not only looking to raise prices of brown grades but also white grades and fluting.

Unbleached kraftliner in particular remains scarce. E-commerce is further fuelling the already strong global demand. But the majority of market watchers also expect that adjustments will take effect for white-top kraftliner, possibly in two steps in the coming months.

The order situation is said to be very good and delivery times have become longer. So far, procurement is much less problematic than in the unbleached segment. Nevertheless, producers point out that some mills have maintenance downtime planned for spring, which could create a very tight market.