Seasonal slowdown hits UCFS market;prices slip as order books empty

摘要

The customary mid-winter slowdown that gripped the North American uncoated freesheet market in late December has yet to ease and mills are still waiting for orders to pick up,contacts said last week.Contacts said many mills had a lot of inventory and were without backlog.Merchants said the market had stayed fairly firm in the fourth quarter with only a modest amount of price erosion through mid-December.But in the week between Christmas and New Year it turned soft and has not yet returned,contacts said."The last two weeks of December were unbelievable.There just weren't any orders.People in mills'customer service departments were twiddling their thumbs.It was kind of crazy,"commented one contact.