Spain

The story in Spain is largely the same as in the rest of Europe. There has been very good local demand throughout the year to date, with collectors’ yards almost empty and very weak stocks at the paper mills. OCC prices increased in February and March but remained stable in April and May; however, the deinking and white grades have witnessed price gains every month in 2022.

White grades appear to have the lowest availability. One of the reasons for this is that many people are still working from home as a result of the pandemic, and so the large office buildings which used to be major sources of white grades are currently nearly empty and are therefore generating far less.

A new investor has arrived in Spain during recent months: Germany-based PreZero has completed the acquisition for Euro 1.032 billion of one of Spain’s largest waste management companies Cespa SA (formerly known as Ferrovial Environmental Services). France’s Paprec

has also launched commercial activities in Spain with the opening of an office in Madrid.