The news certainly contributed to the rise. It’s a different matter how well the increase materializes and how competitors act. The strength of demand for end products (cardboard, etc.) will, of course, ultimately affect the success of the price hike.
There have been relatively few educated guesses regarding the UPM-Sappi JV. Personally, I see the JV as a very smart strategic move in its execution. It will be interesting to see the competition authorities’ stance—the company’s market share is very large in Europe. Can anyone estimate why it would or wouldn’t go through? Synergies, pricing power, and the controlled phase-out of capacity in the coming years would be much more efficient through the JV. Pricing power would also be stronger.