ND PAPER (02689) rose over 6%. As of the time of writing, the stock was up 6.76%, trading at HK$6, with a turnover of HK$29.4532 million. On the news front, according to reports, recently, major packaging paper enterprises, represented by ND PAPER, Shanying International, Lee & Man Paper, and Longchen Paper, have undertaken large-scale production halts for maintenance, actively contracting capacity. Meanwhile, manufacturers of white card paper and cultural paper, such as Bohui Paper, APP, International Paper, and Asia Symbol, have collectively announced price increases. This concurrent phenomenon of "production halts and price hikes" highlights the significant differences in cost structures, supply-demand dynamics, and market expectations among different paper grades. Incomplete statistics indicate that leading companies including ND PAPER, Shanying International, Lee & Man Paper, and Longchen Paper have fully initiated their production halt plans for the first quarter of 2026, with the timing highly concentrated around January to February (around the Chinese New Year). The main affected products are recycled fiber-based packaging papers like containerboard and corrugating medium. Analysts point out that the paper industry's active destocking cycle, which began in March 2022, has persisted for 19 months, approaching the longest historical cycle. A potential turning point is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2025, and improvements in the inventory cycle are expected to further strengthen expectations for a recovery in industry prosperity. Looking ahead to 2026, consumer demand is still in a phase of moderate recovery, while supply changes vary across paper grades: the supply-demand balance for pulp-based paper grades remains loose, with pulp prices being a key driver for industry inventory replenishment or reduction; integrated pulp and paper leaders are expected to continue achieving excess profits. The capacity expansion cycle for containerboard and corrugating medium has essentially concluded, positioning this segment to potentially be the first to emerge from the current cycle of supply-demand imbalance. This could lead to a recovery in capacity utilization rates and an earnings recovery scenario characterized by a year-on-year increase in the average price per ton of paper.
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