Market Pulp Producers Trying to Hold Flat
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Market pulp producers are attempting to maintain flat prices in November after September's global pulp data came in better-than-expected, reports Mark Wilde, senior analyst with Deutsche Bank. Canfor Pulp has announced flat November NBSK prices in the U.S. ($970/metric ton) and Asia (China = $830/metric ton, and a $20/metric ton decline in Europe ($960/metric ton). Suzano has announced flat BEK prices in all of the three major regions—N.A., Europe, and China, Wilde adds. In September, shipments rose 14.4% m/m and 2.9% y/y, mostly due to higher than expected shipments to China. "We caution that almost half of this sequential increase was due to delayed shipments from August. Inventories fell two days m/m to 32 days. We're a bit skeptical about the Chinese pick-up (based in part on what we saw on a visit to China in mid-October). To date, prices have fallen less than we feared in July and a continued slide in the U.S. dollar is raising the ‘floor' level for pulp," Wilde says.
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