After two weeks of downbeat news, North American containerboard producers got some encouraging signs this week, Mark Wilde, senior analyst with Deutsche Bank, reports. The ISM's manufacturing index, he notes, rose from 55.5 in July to 56.3 in August. Rising OCC prices suggest stronger demand and, perhaps, more producer discipline. Outages at Smurfit's Hopewell, Va., linerboard mill are reducing supply. The $60 August price hike remains a real challenge, Wilde reports.
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