There are four main moving parts that affect profits and cashflow at Mondi, the packaging group. One is the amount it can charge for its various products, particularly kraftliner, the basic substance from which the rest tend to be priced. The second is the degree that its production facilities have to be shut down for routine maintenance and the disruption this causes to supplies.
The third is the amount of capital spending going into those facilities. The fourth is an oddity, the fair value of its South African forestry assets, which are written up or down with each trading statement. Mondi is based in Johannesburg and has a quote there and in London, where it is a constituent of the FTSE-100 index.
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