Coated Groundwood and LWC markets in North America are tightening, Wilde says, noting that trade papers show flat prices, but trade sources suggest N.A. "spot" prices are rising. Despite a recent $20/ton ($1/cwt) price hike initiative by NewPage, Myllykoski, and Verso, prices remained essentially flat in November (No. 5, 40-lb list price = $755-$780/ton). October shipment data show signs of improvement, (+5.6% m/m, -4.3% y/y, YTD -24.2% y/y) and that the market may be stabilizing. Inventories fell 15.0% m/m. However, demand is still weak—H109 magazine ad pages fell 27.9% y/y. NewPage has announced plans to take some 160,000 tons of downtime in the fourth quarter, according to Wilde.

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