Q3 Paper Outlook — Beaten to a Pulp

O'Brien notes that prices continued to decline even as paper producers took steps—chiefly mergers—to improve their ability to manage supply in relationship to demand. "Actually, most of the papermaking assets are still there, they're just controlled by fewer suppliers," he says.

Independent of this industry consolidation, Quebecor World made a decision to narrow the number of paper suppliers it uses on a regular basis, the company exec reveals.