Oct 2021

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• APP slashes OKI BHK pulp output in Indonesia by 160k tonnes. It will take downtime of an estimated 20 days (RISI, Oct 2021)
• Bracell to focus on production stability in the first two years of Star project. (RISI, Sep 2021)
• Resolute Forest Products announces North American price increase on NBSK, SBSK, NBHK and SBHK pulp, effective Oct. 1. (RISI, Sep 2021)
• Solenis lifts prices for all its pulp and paper and water treatment chemicals by 30% across Asia Pacific region from Oct 1 (RISI, Oct 2021)
• Arauco postpones start-up of Mapa BEK pulp project to March 2022. The project, with capacity to supply 1.56 million tonnes per year of pulp, was initially planned for the second quarter of 2021 and later delayed to the end of 2021. (RISI, Oct 2021)
• Bracell kicks off second pulp line in Brazil; ramp-up with no major issues reported. Brazilian pulp producer Bracell started up a second pulp line at its Star project in Brazil on Sunday October 3. The project includes two swing pulp lines with a combined capacity of up to 3 million tonnes per year of bleached kraft pulp, or 1.5 million tpy of dissolving pulp (DP). (RISI, Oct 2021)

Sept 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.
• Bracell starts up first of two new flexible dissolving pulp lines in Brazil. 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). According to the company, after the startup of the first line, the second should begin production in two weeks.
• Chilean pulp exports drop 9.8% in 1H21 to 2.2M tonnes. (Chile’s Forestry Institute)
• Brazilian pulp exports drop 0.8% in 1H21; output up 8.5% (Brazilian Tree Industry Assn)

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)