N.A. Newsprint Markets Hold Soft

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North American August 30-lb Newsprint East was flat at $640/metric ton, Mark Wilde of Deutsche Bank says. West coast producers Catalyst Paper and Norpac have announced a $30/metric ton price hike on newsprint effective October 1. The price hike is driven by tight supplies on the west coast from the closure of Catalyst Paper's Snowflake mill (277,000 metric tpy).

East coast newsprint prices remain a bit soft, mostly from the restart of White Birch's 150,000 tpy machine at its Stadacona mill. July consumption figures from the Newspaper Association of America point to an 8.4% drop in newsprint consumption as well as a modest uptick in publisher inventories, Wilde reports.