Newsprint UK - growth opportunity for suppliers?

All this extra newsprint in the UK - how much growth in newsprint capacity can the market bear?

With companies eager to harvest the urban recycled paper forest, and reduce the reliance on imported newsprint, significant new projects have been announced in the UK which should provide opportunities for paper chemical suppliers.

The announced increases are as follows:

1. ECCO Recycled newsprint mill in Teeside (first quarter 2009; 400,000 tons/year)
Metso Paper signed a Letter of Intent to supply a single papermachine for ECCO Development Limited. The project is subject to completing a number of other agreements in the chain related to financing, construction and operation of the mill. ECCO has planning consent to start at their site at Wilton International on Teesside.

2. Palm to build new newsprint mill in King's Lynn (summer 2009; 400,000 tons/year)
Papierfabrik Palm, the German papermaker, announced they will build a 10.5 metre wide newsprint newsprint papermachine at King's Lynn on the site of a former sugar mill. The cost will be about £330 mio.

3. Aylesford Newsprint reconsiders new papermachine
The SCA/Mondi mill is reviewing shelved plans for the construction of a new newsprint machine. So far, there are no timescales or decisions on the project.