Paper Market Outlook — Stocks Are on the Rise

One potential new wrinkle that popped up last year is the poor standing of the dollar relative to most major currencies. Paul Leclair, chief economist with the Pulp and Paper Products Council, tends to discount speculation about this trend having had an impact on the U.S. paper market.

"Exchange rates may not be as important as we sometimes think. Hedging operations enable companies to protect themselves against variations in currencies. They may be protected against exchange rate variations for six months to a year," he explains. "Eventually, those positions do expire and then the exchange rate starts to kick in more significantly."