Aug 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• Bracell postpones startup of new pulp line in Brazil until early Sept. The project includes two swing pulp lines with a combined capacity of up to 2.8 million tonnes/yr of bleached kraft pulp or 1.5 million tonnes/yr of dissolving pulp (DP). (RISI, Aug 2021)
• Arauco sets BEK pulp prices in China at $655/tonne in Sept., a $15/tonne drop (RISI, Aug 2021)
• Stocks of woodpulp at European ports fell in July, dipping 3.6% month on month. Inventories stood at 1,042,147 tonnes, down from 1,081,603 tonnes in June, according to the latest statistics from Europulp.
• CMPC to add new 350,000 tonnes/yr BEK pulp capacity in Brazil by 4Q23. The project will expand Guaiba mill’s BEK pulp capacity from 2m tonnes/year to 2.3m tonnes/year (RISI, Aug 2021)
• Belarus’ Svetlogorsk pulp and paper mill is not expected to reach its full production capacity of 400,000 tonnes/yr of bleached softwood kraft (BSK) pulp until 2022. At present, the plant is producing about 270,000 tonnes/yr of pulp. (RISI, Aug 2021)
• LD Celulose’s new DP mill is 72% complete; startup expected for March 2022. The unit is expected to reach full production capacity of 500,000 tonnes/yr by the first quarter of 2023 (RISI, Aug 2021)

July 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• China’s Asia Symbol has started seven days of downtime at Rizhao mill, expecting to curtail BHK output by 65,000 tonnes. (RISI, Jul 2021)
• West Fraser announces $50/t softwood BCTMP hike in China, effective with Aug orders. (RISI, Jul 2021)
• The government of Myanmar is launching a tender to operate Thar Paung P&P mill, which has been closed since 2014. The mill houses a P&W paper machine and pulp line with capacities 50t/day and 200t/day respectively. (RISI, Jul 2021)
• Paper Excellence makes unconditional takeover offer for Fibre Excellence’s Tarascon pulp mill in France. (RISI, Jul 2021)
• Domtar stockholders approve proposal to adopt business combination with Paper Excellence (RISI, Jul 2021)
• Stocks of woodpulp at European ports fell in June, dipping 11.7% month on month. Inventories stood at 1,081,603 tonnes, down from 1,224,433 tonnes in May. (Europulp, Jul 2021)
• Lee & Man to build new semi-chemical pulp line at Chongqing mill in China, expected to start up in 2023 (RISI, Jul 2021)
• Sappi restarts operations at three South African mills following suspension of activities due to civil unrest (RISI, Jul 2021)

June 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• Good demand helped pulp producers push through full price increases in Europe in May: NBSK and BEK closed the month at $1300/t (+80) and $1090/t (+80) respectively. In North America, NBSK closed May at $1615/t (+50) and BEK at $1320/t (+80). (RISI, Jun 2021)
• Bracell to start-up first new pulp line in Brazil in mid-August, second to start two weeks later. The two lines have the flexibility to switch between DP and KP and a relevant portion of production will be allocated to RGE’s viscose and paper factories in Asia. (Valor, Jun 2021)
• APP announced that it will produce UKP to tackle shortage of recovered paper imports for furnishing finished products at its Indonesian mills - this change in pulp furnish is expected to result in 110 to 150kt reduction in its market BHKP availability. (RISI, Jun 2021)
• Brazilian BEK exports marginally down 0.7% MoM in May (-3.8% YoY) to 1.38 million tonnes; Brazilian BEK export has been consistently between 1.38 to 1.39 million tonnes in the past 3 months. (Comex Stat, Jun 2021)
• PPPC: May global pulp shipments totalled 4.271 million tons, flat MoM, down 4.2% YoY. Producer inventories for both BSK and BHK increased by two days-of-supply to 38 days in May. (PPPC, Jun 2021)
• Pulp and paper suppliers are closely monitoring and getting ready for the new drought period in Brazil; National monitoring agency Cemaden reported that Brazil remains in conditions of moderate to severe drought in most parts of the country. (RISI, Jun 2021)
• Pulp inventories at European ports increased 8.6% MoM in May to 1.224 million tons. This is 17.4% lower than the level recorded a year ago in May’20. (Europulp, Jun 2021)
• Arauco resumed operations at its 355,000 tonnes/yr UKP Constitución pulp mill on Jun. 24, following a workers’ strike that halted operations for 10 days. (RISI, Jun 2021)
• Fibre Excellence’s 290,000 tonnes/year NBSK/NBHK Saint-Gaudens mill has restarted production following a two-week shutdown which began on Jun 7. (RISI, Jun 2021)

May 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• Suzano announces new 2.3 million tonnes/yr BEK project (‘Cerrado Project’) in Mato Grosso dol Sul state, Brazil, with a target startup in the first quarter of 2024. (RISI, May 2021)
• Domtar announced $100 hike for its NBSK and SBSK to North American customers in the first week of May, reversing its initial decision to leave prices flat. Its 634 thousand tonnes/yr fluff and SBSK mill remains in force majeure, ten weeks after the Arctic Blast forced the company to idle production at the mill. (RISI, May 2021)
• Brazil BEK exports marginally up 0.7% MoM in April (+22% YoY) to 1.39 million tonnes. (Comex Stat, May 2021)
• Suzano, Eldorado and Klabin announced to maintain $780/t as June price for BEKP in China. In Europe and North America, due to robust demand, they have announced new list prices of $1140/t (+50) and $1380/t (+60) for June intake respectively. (RISI, May 2021)
• Södra Cell announced new BSKP list price of $1380/t (+60) for June intake in Europe. (RISI, May 2021)
• Stocks of woodpulp at European ports declined 19% MoM to 1.12 million tonnes in Apr’21, down from 1.388 million tonnes in Mar’21. This also represents a 24.5% drop from the level recorded a year ago in Apr’20. (Europulp & Internal, May 2021)
• Paper Excellence aims to open 340ktpa NBSK Prince Albert pulp mill in Saskatchewan in 2023. (RISI, May 2021)

Apr 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• Imported BEKP is currently transacted at $770-780/t and BSKP at ~$980-1000/t in China currently. (Internal & RISI, Apr. 2021)
• Chilean producer Arauco announced its May Order Intake offer prices in China after skipping Apr. allocation: BEK $800/t(+70), BSK $980/t(+80). (Internal, Apr. 2021)
• Brazilian BEK producers exported a total of 1.383Mt of hardwood pulp in Mar’21, of which 511kt are to China. Brazilian BEK export to China in 1Q 2021 totalled 1.414Mt, representing a 18% YoY drop as compared to the 1.725Mt in 1Q 2020. (COMEX Stat, Apr. 2021)
• Pulp producers report continued strong demand in North America this month, with the successful implementation of announced price increases (BSK: +$150, BEK:+$100). Pulp buyers have also been trying to secure additional volume on top of their contractual allocation to avoid the more expensive spot markets. (RISI, Apr. 2021)
• Paper Excellence announced permanent closure of its idle 240ktpa NBSK Mackenzie pulp mill, citing limited capacity and ongoing fibre availability issue. Production at the mill was originally curtailed in Jun. 2020 due to market impacts caused by Covid-19 and lack of economic fibre. (RISI, Apr. 2021)
• Suzano, Eldorado and Klabin announced unchanged BEK price ($780/t) in China for May intake, while setting $80 increase in North America and Europe. The announced price increase puts BEK at $1320/t and $1090/t in North America and Europe respectively. (RISI, April 2021)
• NBSK price announcements: Metsä Fibre announced $1300/t (+80) in Europe for May intake. Resolute Forest Products, Canfor Pulp and West Fraser announced $1665/t (+100) as their May NBSK offer price in North America. (RISI, April 2021)
• UPM Fray Bentos mill is currently in the midst of a scheduled maintenance downtime which runs from Apr. 18 till the first week of May; BEK production loss expected to be ~56kt. (RISI & Internal, April 2021)
• Pulp inventories at European ports increased 10.5% MoM in Mar. to 1.386Mt. Analysts pointed out that end-of-quarter inventory building to supply 2Q, coupled with sellers looking to sell more in Europe with European prices approaching China profitability levels, could have led to the higher port inventories. (JP Morgan, Apr. 2021)
• BHKP inventories at major Chinese ports in Apr. flat against Mar. (Apr’21: 1.27 million tonnes vs Mar’21: 1.29 million tonnes). (Internal, Apr. 2021)