Oct 29, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Co. is preparing to buy less or no recycled paper while it reduces its oversupply, take containerboard downtime, build no new capacity in China, delay its project in Vietnam and go through a period of consolidation next year, among other moves as the paper sector’s growth could soon slow down, Recycling and Waste Management News reported. At the recent European Paper Recycling conference in Amsterdam, Lee & Man CEO Raymond Lee expressed pessimism about the growth prospects of the paper businesses due to weakening export, domestic and government demand. Lee said prices were “crashing down” and that China’s OCC price had declined by 20% in the 10 days prior to the conference. The Chinese containerboard producer, which consumes about 4 million metric tons a year of mostly-imported recovered fiber, may have to cease buying new material in order to reduce its oversupply. The company also expects to take more downtime, especially at the end of the year, due to high inventories in recovered paper and the finished product in addition to the subsequent drop in prices. Lee expects domestic single-digit net capacity growth in 2009, even “low single-digit growth.” Lee & Man’s production project in Vietnam will be delayed as well, until 2010. Lee foresees that the company will buy mixed papers “when it makes sense” and said that its focus will be on OCC and on selling to Chinese customers.